Unheralded French skier Sarrazin wins parallel giant slalom

LA VILLA, Italy – French skier Cyprien Sarrazin was the surprise winner of a parallel giant slalom race on Monday as overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher was eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive year in Alta Badia.

Competing in just the seventh World Cup race of his career, Sarrazin edged former overall champion Carlo Janka of Switzerland by 0.10 seconds in the single-run final of the night event.

Sarrazin’s previous best finish was 24th.

Kjetil Jansrud took third ahead of Norwegian teammate Leif Kristian Haugen.

France’s Steve Missillier eliminated Hirscher in the two-run opening round of the 32-man tournament-style bracket.

Needing to complete six runs to win, skiers were shuttled back up to the start after each run on off-road vehicles after making brief pit stops with their ski technicians.