Five Americans Score in Val d’Isere

VAL D’ISERE, France (Dec. 4, 2016) – After two days of speed, the tech guys were ready to go in Val d’Isere for the Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom. Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) was the top American of the day, taking 11th place.

After a 46-year wait, France won a Val d’Isere GS in front of the home crowd with Mathieu Faivre taking the win after a spectacular second run. His teammate Alexis Pinturault was third and Marcel Hirscher of Austria second.

On perfect, grippy snow, the Americans stacked five racers into the points with Tommy Ford (Bend, OR) finishing just behind Ligety in 14th. Tim Jitloff (Park City, UT) was 18th, Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT) 22nd and David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) 27th.

Ligety, “Mr. GS,” is still coming back from an ACL injury that kept him off the circuit for a portion of last season. “I felt like I had skied OK, but the new trend of giant slalom racing is to set dead straight courses with super high speeds," said Ligety. "I haven't gotten comfortable with that yet and it makes me not ski my best and not be able to look for speed. Those top guys are skiing so fast that you can't be off and have the anchor down at all."

The men’s tech team stays in Val d’Isere to race a giant slalom and slalom next weekend.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ted Ligety was the top American in 11th place at a rescheduled giant slalom at Val d’Isere.
• Five U.S. men skied into the points.
• NBCSN will broadcast the giant slalom at 5pm ET.
• Next, the men race another GS in Val d’Isere on Saturday with a slalom Sunday.

QUOTES

Ted Ligety
I didn’t feel that comfortable to push that hard and it showed in the time. This is a great World Cup slope. It’s one of the better ones.

I felt like I had skied OK, but the new trend of giant slalom racing is to set dead straight courses with super high speeds. I haven't gotten comfortable with that yet and it makes me not ski my best and not be able to look for speed. Those top guys are skiing so fast that you can't be off and have the anchor down at all.

It's really neat seeing five of us in the top 30. It's a nice change from when it was just Jit and me for the most part. Tommy's been skiing great the last few weeks and Ryan has been skiing unbelievably, so it's great to see them skiing to their full potential and putting it in races. They're not just inching their way in and being happy in the mid-twenties, but actually throwing down second runs too. It's really cool to see.

Tommy Ford
They did a great job here and the snow was awesome. It was fun to have our team go for it. There’s a great crowd here. We’re all rooting for each other.

RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom

BROADCAST AND LIVE STREAMING (times EST)
Sunday, Dec. 4
5:00 p.m. – Men’s GS, Val d’Isere – NBCSN