Massimiliano Blardone captured Saturday's World Cup giant slalom in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria, leading a 1-2 finish by Italian skiers.

Blardone, who sat in third place after the first run, benefited from a second-leg fall by leader Thomas Fanara of France to win in a combined time of two minutes, 10.75 seconds.

Massimiliano Blardone speeds down the course during the first leg of Saturday's giant slalom in Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria. The Italian jumped from third after the first run to win the race.
(Marco Trovati/Associated Press)

"The conditions were extremely demanding today with a really icy first run and then a very choppy second run, so I just took every chance I had and skied at my limits," said Blardone, whose four career World Cup wins and 13 podium spots have all come in the giant slalom.

Countryman Manfred Moelgg finished second in 2:10.84, while American Ted Ligety — the World Cup GS leader — was third in 2:10.92.

Austria's Benjamin Raich just missed out on delighting his home crowd with a podium finish, coming fourth in 2:10.95.

"I really went for it in the second run, because I probably didn't risk enough in the first," Raich told Austrian television. "That probably made the difference between making the podium and finishing fourth."

Francois Bourque of New Richmond, Que., was the top Canadian, finishing 12th in 2:12.37.

Calgary's John Kucera finished 14th, while Jean-Philippe Roy of Ste-Flavie, Que., was 16th.

Toronto's Scott Barrett and Robbie Dixon of North Vancouver, B.C., failed to finish the first run.

Competition at Bad Kleinkirchheim continues with a slalom on Sunday. The race will be broadcast live on CBC Country Canada and streamed at CBCSports.ca beginning at 4 a.m. ET.