Hirscher poised for slalom globe after Neureuther error

Marcel Hirscher edged closer to a third crystal globe on Sunday after an error from German leader Felix Neureuther opened the door for the Austrian to take control of the slalom.
Neureuther went into the final event of the season-ending World Cup finals with a 55-point lead over Hirscher, already winner of the giant slalom globe who also claimed a record fourth consecutive overall title by default Saturday after closest rival Kjetil Jansrud of Norway opted out of racing the slalom.
But a mistake at the bottom of the Roc de Fer piste in bad visibility after overnight snow saw the German lose valuable time.
Italian Stefano Gross posted the fastest time of 46.78 seconds, with Norwegian giant slalom winner Henrik Kristoffersen 0.01sec off his time, and Hirscher at 0.08sec in third.
Neureuther sat in 14th spot, 1.74sec off the pace, opening the way for Hirscher to claim a third slalom globe and a first hat-trick of globes since Croatia's Ivica Kostelic in 2010/11.
Source: AFP