Caviezel leads combined race; Pinturault closes in on title

HINTERSTODER, Austria (AP) — Alexis Pinturault finished second in the super-G portion of a men’s World Cup Alpine combined race Sunday, positioning himself for his fourth discipline title.

A fifth-place finish would guarantee the Frenchman the top spot in the season rankings.

In the super-G run on a shortened course, Pinturault trailed leader Mauro Caviezel of Switzerland by 0.23 seconds. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway was 0.24 behind in third.

Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria, who won a regular super-G here Saturday, finished 0.88 behind in seventh.

Going into Sunday’s final combined race of the season, Pinturault led the discipline standings with 180 points, followed by Kilde on 112 and Loic Meillard of Switzerland on 110. Meillard had 1.77 seconds to make up in the slalom leg later Sunday.

Pinturault is the highest-ranked slalom skier among the three.

The Frenchman could win his 10th combined race, leaving him one short of the all-time record shared by Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, Phil Mahre of the United States and Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland.

Pinturault was on the podium in eight of his last nine combined races, including six wins.