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Hirscher edges towards titles with giant slalom win

Austria's Marcel Hirscher competes in the first heat of the men's Giant Slalom of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on March 1, 2015 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Austria's Marcel Hirscher edged closer to an unprecedented fourth straight overall world cup title after his fifth victory of the season in the giant slalom on Sunday. Having taken a commanding two second lead from the first run, the 25-year-old built on his earlier time down Garmisch's Kandahar course to finish more than three seconds ahead of the field. Germany's Felix Neureuther finished second at 3.28sec back on his home-town course. Austria's Benjamin Raich was third at 3.44secs behind on the same course he suffered a serious knee injury at the 2011 world championships. With two races left this season at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, and Meribel, France, Hirscher is the world leader in both giant slalom and the overall World Cup title. With 560 points, Hirscher is nearly two hundred ahead of second-placed American Ted Ligety, who was fourth on Sunday, for the giant slalom title. And for the overall title, he has 1128 pts ahead of second placed Kjetil Jansrud of Norway, who has 940, and third-placed Frenchman Alexis Pinturault.