Pinturault wins men's World Cup super-combined; Ligety skis out

France's Alexis Pinturault beat his next competitor by 1.15 seconds.

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WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) -- Alexis Pinturault of France used his superior slalom skills to win a World Cup super-combined on Friday, while Ted Ligety skied out.

Pinturault was more than one second faster than any rival in the slalom to win by 1.15 seconds. He finished ahead of Ivica Kostelic of Croatia and Carlo Janka of Switzerland was third.

Ligety, who remains third overall, seemed set for a podium finish until his right ski slipped free making a turn.

"It was his inside ski as he was going by the gate on the top of a roll, so it was really tough to tell," U.S. coach Sasha Rearick said. "He was losing time, but he would have been in second."

Pinturault won in combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 41.62 seconds. Pinturault got his second win of the season, after victory in his home slalom last month at Val d'Isere.

"I feel really good about the win," Pinturault said. "I tried not to lose too much time (in downhill) and then just go for it."

Aksel Lund of Svindal of Norway placed 14th to close the points gap on overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who skipped the event.

Kjetil Jansrud of Norway was third after the downhill but lost a slalom ski without losing balance.

Kostelic was seeking his third straight win in the Wengen super-combined.

First-run leader Christof Innerhofer of Italy placed fifth, which gave Janka his first podium finish of the season and prompted cheers from home fans.

Janka, the 2010 overall champion, has struggled with form because of changes to ski regulations.

"Definitely there is relief and I'm really happy about it," Janka said. "I was probably lucky to be only two-hundredths in front of (fourth-place) Benni Raich."

A Wengen speed record was claimed for Janka, who was clocked at 98.66 mph in the Hanneggschuss section, among the on the World Cup circuit.

Racers competed under clear blue skies, though the forecast is unsettled for the 83rd year of the Lauberhorn downhill race scheduled for Saturday.

Hirscher is expected to return in Sunday's slalom.