BEAVER CREEK, Colorado (AFP) - Olympic champion Benjamin Raich of Austria edged American Ted Ligety by .01 of a second Sunday to win an Alpine Ski World Cup men's giant slalom race.

Austrian skier Benjamin Raich passes a gate in the FIS World Cup Men's Giant Slalom first run race, in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Olympic champion Raich edged American Ted Ligety by .01 of a second Sunday to win an Alpine Ski World Cup men's giant slalom race. (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

Raich won with a combined two-run time of 2min 24.61secs with Ligety just off the pace and Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal third in 2:24.71.

Svindal maintained his overall Cup lead following victories in the downhill Friday and the Super-G Saturday.

It was the 31st career World Cup triumph and first victory of the season for Raich, 30, who was eighth after the first run. The Austrian, who won giant and slalom gold in Turin in 2006, followed his opening run of 1:12.36 with a time of 1:12.25.

Ligety, second down the mountain, had the fastest opening run at 1:11.31 but timed his second run in 1:13.31 to just miss matching Raich.

Ted Ligety, of the United States, races down the course during the first run of the men's World Cup giant slalom skiing competition at Beaver Creek, Colo. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Svindal's third podium in as many days came after a 1:12.00 opening run and a 1:12.71 second run.

Swiss Daniel Albrecht won the only prior giant slalom race this season at Soelden with countryman Didier Cuche second and Ligety third. Svindal was 13th.

Ligety led after the first run, going out of the starting gate second and finishing in 1:11.31 with Cuche .56 back, Svindal .69 behind and Albrecht .80 off the pace in fourth.

American Bode Miller, who did not finish a Friday downhill and was 14th in the Super-G on Saturday, was fifth in the opening run but failed to finish in the second run.

Bode Miller, of the United States, races down the course during the first run of the men's World Cup giant slalom skiing competition at Beaver Creek, Colo. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Austrian Hermann Maier, skiing on his 36th birthday, was among those who did not finish the opening run.

Norway's Kjetil Jansrud, who started 43rd and was 13th after the first run, climbed to a fourth-place finish with a 1:12.04 second run.

Kjetil Jansrud of Norway skis in the first heat of the men's World Cup giant slalom ski race in Beaver Creek, Colorado December 7, 2008. Jansrud finished fourth in the race. REUTERS/Rick Wilking (UNITED STATES)

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia skis in the first heat of the men's World Cup giant slalom ski race in Beaver Creek, Colorado December 7, 2008. Kostelic finished eighth in the race. REUTERS/Rick Wilking (UNITED STATES)

The men's World Cup tour next stops in France with a super combined, slalom and giant slalom set for Val d'Isere.

AFP
Sun 07 Dec, 09:30 PM