By USSA

ARE, Sweden — Ted Ligety (Park City ) slayed his way to second place in Are, Sweden, behind Marcel Hirscher from Austria, who collected his 25 career World Cup win, and ahead of Stefan Luitz of Germany.

Tim Jitloff (Reno) grabbed more giant slalom World Cup points, finishing 22. The win moved Hirscher back atop the Audi FIS Ski World Cup GS standings and set the stage for an epic battle for the globe with Ligety, which will continue next weekend in Alta Badia.

With the sun setting just after 2pmin Sweden, the giant slalom took place under the lights. The Norwegians set a super technical first run on the steep and injected course. Without much room for error, the course spat out DNFs — 18 racers first run, including David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, Colo.). But Ligety and Jitloff both skied solidly, with Ligety sitting third and Jitloff 19 after the first run.

The Americans set a much more open second run, allowing the men to let their skis run a bit more. Jitloff had a few mistakes. Ligety looked calm when he pushed out of the starting gate, losing a little time on the top section of the course, but putting the hammer down in the second half. With his infamous angles, Ligety skied through the finish in first place, only surpassed by Hirscher, who slaughtered the field by over a second.

Along with Chodounsky, Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City), Mark Engel (Truckee) and Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) did not qualify for the second run.