Cuche storms to World Cup season opener in Soelden

SWITZERLAND'S Didier Cuche continued where he left off to claim the first World Cup event of the season with a giant slalom victory in Soelden.

STORMING START: Swiss Didier Cuche continued his giant slalom domination from last season by winning the opening race in Austria (ROLEX/Kurt Arrigo)

Cuche, 35, topped the standings after the first run and last year's giant slalom World Cup champion maintained that advantage with an equally aggressive second run.

“I had a good week of training and I felt pretty confident, so I’m not surprised, I thought I stood a good chance of winning,” said Cuche.

“The second run was tough because of the conditions and the snow had moved so much.”

Despite the absence of Bode Miller, Ted Ligety gave recently appointed American ski head coach Sasha Rearick something to smile about as he claimed second - six tenths behind the flying Cuche.

Swiss Carlo Janka, who has been battling a mystery virus, completed the podium as hosts Austria again disappointed - just as they had in yesterday's women's race.

Olympic giant slalom champion Benjamin Raich was their top finisher in fifth, just behind Italy's Massimiliano Blardone, who missed the podium by a slender one hundredth of a second.

Overall World Cup champion Aksel Lund Svindal, who revealed he was carrying a knee injury earlier this week, was in contention after the first run but skied out as he pushed hard during the second run.