Italy's Massimiliano Blardone triumphed in front of a home crowd in the World Cup giant slalom race in Alta Badia on Sunday.
Italian wows home crowd with first place finish
Italy's Massimiliano Blardone triumphed in front of a home crowd in the World Cup giant slalom race in Alta Badia on Sunday.
Blardone secured first place on the podium with a combined time of two minutes 35.76 seconds on the steep Gran Risa piste.
It is the 30-year-old's first World Cup race victory since he triumphed at Bad Kleinkirchheim in 2007. Compatriot Davide Simoncelli ended up in second place, 0.43secs behind.
"Finally I've managed to win a race," he said. "All the Italian skiers have had great races on home snow,"
The Italians were on course for a 1-2-3 after the first run, but Manfred Moelgg dropped into fifth place following a disappointing second leg, allowing Frenchman Cyprien Richard to claim the last place on the podium.
Austria's Benjamin Raich seized fourth place to take over top spot in the overall World Cup standings from Swiss Carlo Janka, who finished 18th.
