VAL D’ISERE, France (Reuters) – Six-times World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher was upstaged by Frenchman Alexis Pinturault after getting in a tangle with a gate flag at the Val d’Isere giant slalom on Saturday.
Hirscher appeared to be heading for the 24th giant slalom win of his World Cup career when he led after the first leg with 56.74 seconds.
But the Austrian made several mistakes in the second leg, including one where he struck a gate and ripped the flag off the top.
The flag got wrapped around his arm and was stuck there for several moments before he finally shook it off, but he lost precious time in the process and finished third with a total of one minute 51.72 seconds.
Pinturault finished more than half a minute in front in 1:51.18 while Germany’s Stefan Luitz was second.
(Writing by Brian Homewood; editing by Clare Fallon)
