ALTA BADIA, Italy (Reuters) – Ted Ligety outclassed his rivals again with a comfortable victory in the classic Italian giant slalom of Alta Badia on Sunday.

The world champion won his third giant slalom of the season in a combined time of two minutes and 37.27 seconds, 2.04 ahead of closest rival, Austrian Marcel Hirscher.

While the gap was not as emphatic as the 2.75-second margin of Ligety’s victory in October’s season opener in Soelden, it required a great second run by overall World Cup champion Hirscher to limit the damage.

Third-placed Frenchman Thomas Fanara trailed Ligety by 3.27 while German Fritz Dopfer was fourth, 4.22 off the pace.

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal was a solid ninth, 4.86 behind Ligety, whom he leads by 106 points in the overall World Cup standings.

(Editing By Alison Wildey)