Kitzbuehel races: French trio sweep super-combined

The French swept a World Cup podium for the first time in 46 years on Friday, with Alexis Pinturault leading the way.

Pinturault won the World Cup super-combined on the daunting Kitzbuehel hill in Austria with a time of two minutes,3.70 seconds – 0.89 and 0.92 seconds ahead of fellow countrymen Victor Muffat-Jeandet and Thomas Mermillod Blondin.

Pinturault has won the super-combined at Kitzbuehel for the last three years.

"It's something very special," Pinturault said about the French dominance in the race. "To do this in Kitzbuehel is unbelievable."

Muffat-Jeandet won the slalom, the second event of the super-combined, finishing 0.01 seconds ahead of Pinturault. Blondin finished the slalom with the fourth best time. 

The French trio's strong slalom times are what propelled them to their podium finishes, as Pinturault, Muffat-Jeandet and Blondin were 13th, 30th and 18th after the super-G. 

The top Canadian finisher was Trevor Philp, who ended up 21st in the super-combined with a time of 2:08.49 after a 10th place finish in the slalom with a time of 52.51.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won the the super-G by a fairly wide margin, but crashed at the beginning of his slalom run, ruining any chance he had at winning the super combined.

• On mobile and can't view video? Click here

Svindal still extended his lead in the overall standings, moving 107 points ahead of four-time defending champion Marcel Hirscher. 

"That can easily happen in the technical disciplines," said Hirscher, who was reluctant to reflect on his chances to retain the overall title. "I really don't know. Ski racing is too difficult to start calculating."

The Austrian scored just eight points Friday, finishing 23rd in the super-G and being disqualified for straddling a gate in the slalom.