Blardone wins on home snow

Massimiliano Blardone left two seasons of doubts behind him when he won the classic Alta Badia giant slalom for the third time on Sunday.

Home snow inspired the 32-year-old, whose last World Cup victory was on the same Gran Risa course two years ago.
Last season, Blardone made it on the podium only once, in Val d'Isere, as he struggled to adapt to new equipment.
"It's all the more important as it's entirely unexpected. I really had to fight hard for this", said Blardone, who also won in 2005 and is now only one short of Alberto Tomba's record of four wins in the Dolomites resort.
His sixth World Cup success was won at the expense of the Austrian team, who had to be content with the other podium places.
In-form Hannes Reichelt came second, 0.35 seconds behind Blardone, while Philipp Shoerghofer was third, 0.57 off the pace.
Austria have not won the classic Alta Badia giant slalom for 14 years and placed their main hopes on Marcel Hirscher, who finished fifth.
World champion Ted Ligety of the U.S. clocked the fastest time in the first leg but faltered in the afternoon to finish just 0.01 seconds short of the podium.
"It's frustrating. It's unforgivable to squander a 1.70 lead. It just shouldn't happen," said Ligety, conceding he had been too conservative on the second run.
The Alta Badia programme continues on Monday with a men's slalom.

Norway dominate with relay wins

Marit Bjoergen racked up another FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup victory after anchoring Norway's No.1 team to 4x5km relay gold in Sjusjoen.

Fresh from moving to the top of the all-time individual World Cup rankings with her 47th victory on Saturday, Bjoergen was on form again as part of a dominant home quartet.
Led out by Vibeke Skofterud, the Norway I team of her, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira and Bjoergen clocked a time of 51:50.1minutes to take the first World Cup relay title of the season.
And the success for the host nation didn't stop there with the Norway II team of Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, Tora Berger and Marthe Kristoffersen finishing second.
They crossed the finish line exactly 26 seconds behind their first-choice compatriots while Finland completed the podium in third just over 13 seconds further back.
Petter Northug showed his class to win a dramatic sprint finish as the Norwegian No.1 men's team followed their female counterparts in winning FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup gold.
The 25-year-old double Olympic champion dictated the pace in the final leg of the 4x10km relay and timed his move at the end to perfection with as many as five nations battling for first place.
Northug, who was joined by Eldar Roenning, Finn Haagen Krogh and Lars Berger in the first-choice Norwegian team, won the race to line to stop the clock at an overall time of 1:35:24.8 hours.
Hours earlier the ladies No.1 Norwegian team, including triple Olympic champion Marit Bjoergen, had won the 4x5km relay at a canter with the Norway II team in second and Finland in third.
And the men's Norway III team ensured there was one last reason to celebrate on home soil as they edged out Sweden at the line to take silver - 0.8seconds behind Northug and co.
The Swedish trio of Marcus Hellner, Daniel Rickardsson, Johan Olsson and Calle Halfvarsson finished a further 0.2 away for bronze with France beating Russia to fourth by an even shorter margin of 0.1.

Brignone blunder hands Vonn first Giant Slalom win

Lindsey Vonn won the opening World Cup race of the season in Solden after Federica Brignone's amazing fall in the Giant Slalom.

Up-and-coming 21-year-old Italian skier Brignone posted a stunning first run that gave her a lead of almost half a second over the field, but the pressure of the situation proved too much and she fell after just a few gates of her second run.
That error handed victory to US superstar Vonn, who became the fifth female skier to win in all five Alpine disciplines with what was her maiden giant slalom World Cup victory.
The American, who had managed just one previous podium placing in the discipline, triumphed in a combined time of two minutes 24.43 seconds.
Multiple world and Olympic champion Vonn, beaten last year for the overall World Cup crystal globe by arch-rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch, was the only contender to fully master the flat end of the Soelden glacier.
Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, winner on the same course last year, had to settle for second spot in 2:24.47, while downhill and Super-G world champion Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was third in 2:24.83.
It was Vonn's 42nd World Cup victory and gave an ominous warning to her rivals this season, especially German Hoefl-Riesch who finished a lowly 24th.
"My best result here was ninth so it's a great change. It's the first giant slalom win of my career and it's hard to describe," Vonn said.
"I now hope to keep this momentum going. I have a lot of confidence now. I'm going to keep fighting."
Vonn lost the World Cup to Hoefl-Riesch by three points last season.