France's Alexis Pinturault celebrated his 30th birthday in style on Saturday, clinching the giant slalom and overall World Cup crystal globes, as Slovakia's Petra Vlhova and Austria's Katharina Liensberger secured the women's overall and slalom trophies.

Saturday's races in the Swiss ski resort of Lenzerheide were bound to be nail-biters given what was at stake and they didn't disappoint.

The men's giant slalom was set up as a duel between Pinturault and Swiss skier Marco Odermatt, both vying not only for the small globe in the discipline but also for the biggest prize of all: the overall World Cup crystal globe.

On the women's side, Vlhova was looking to secure the overall title, while battling with Liensberger and U.S. ski star Mikaela Shiffrin for the slalom globe.

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Under pressure

Going into Saturday's race, Pinturault was leading Odermatt by 31 points in the men's overall standings, but trailing him by 25 points in the giant slalom standings.

From the start however, the Frenchman showed he was in a fighting mood, delivering a strong first run that left almost the entire field one second behind him.

Odermatt, skiing on home soil, finished 10th after the first run, but could have still made enough points in the second to secure the giant slalom trophy. A disappointing second run failed to put him in front and the race and both globes were now Pinturault's to lose.

Exhibiting nerves of steel, the French skier sped down the course to bring home the win and two long-sought-after trophies.

Croatia's Filip Zubcic finished second in the race, while Pinturault's teammate Mathieu Faivre was third.

At long last

Although Pinturault already has four small globes in the combined, this is his first giant slalom trophy and incredibly, his first overall globe as well.

The 30-year-old, who has already amassed three Olympic medals and five world championship medals, including one gold, over his illustrious career, was the runner-up for the overall title in the last two seasons.

In 2019, he had to make way for his long-time Austrian rival Marcel Hirscher. Perhaps most gallingly, last year, he was just 54 points behind Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde when the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday's win was Pinturault's fourth in giant slalom this season, where he has never finished below fifth place in 10 races. In total, he has had eight podiums, including five wins across three disciplines.

However, the season hasn't been without some hiccups. While he came away from world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo last month with one silver and one bronze medal, he straddled a gate as he was on his way to giant slalom gold.

In his next few races, he finished just off the podium twice – once even losing a pole halfway down the course – and straddled a gate on another occasion, allowing a flying Odermatt to catch up with him. 

The 23-year-old Swiss came into the finals in Lenzerheide having won his last two races but suffered from speed events, where he could have made extra points for the overall trophy, being cancelled due to bad weather earlier this week.

After last season's unlucky finish, the two globes and the way he won them will be especially sweet birthday presents for Pinturault.

A tight race

For Vlhova, only a few points were needed in the women's slalom on Saturday to secure her first overall crystal globe over Swiss rival Lara Gut-Behrami, trailing her by 96 points.

Impressively, the Slovak has competed in every single race this season in all disciplines – 30 in total – winning six times and landing on the podium four more times.

Skiing less aggressively than usual, she took sixth place in Saturday's race but this was enough to guarantee her the overall World Cup trophy, the first ever for Slovakia. 

Where the race properly heated up was for the slalom trophy. Vlhova also led in the standings ahead of the race, but with Liensberger and Shiffrin hot on her heels, just 22 and 37 points behind her.

Shiffrin, a six-time slalom globe winner and multiple Olympic and world champion, put in two characteristically solid runs to take the lead with only Liensberger left to ski.

In a nail-biting finale, the 23-year-old Austrian launched herself down the course, flying through the gates and crossing the finish with a massive 1.24-second lead on Shiffrin, and Switzerland's Michelle Gisin in third place.

This saw both Liensberger and Shiffrin overtake Vlhova in the slalom standings, with the Austrian lifting her first ever crystal globe.

The trophy caps a sensational season for the 23-year-old, who has been on eight podiums in nine slalom races, with her worst result being a fourth place.

Even more impressive is the fact that before this season, she had never won a World Cup race. At world championships in Cortina last month, her fast and confident skiing led to a surprise two gold medals, and last weekend she finally scored her first World Cup victory in Are, Sweden.

With this second win in a week – and a crystal globe – she has confirmed her status as Austria's shooting star.

Two last races will be held on Sunday, the men's slalom and the women's giant slalom. The crystal globes in both disciplines however are already guaranteed to go to Italy's Marta Bassino and Austria's Marco Schwarz thanks to their overwhelming lead in their respective standings. 

2020/2021 World Cup crystal globes:

Women:

Overall – Petra Vlhova (SVK)

Downhill – Sofia Goggia (ITA)

Super-G – Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI)

Giant slalom – Marta Bassino (ITA)

Slalom – Katharina Liensberger (AUT)

Men:

Overall – Alexis Pinturault (FRA)

Downhill – Beat Feuz (SUI)

Super-G – Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT)

Giant slalom – Alexis Pinturault (FRA)

Slalom – Marco Schwarz (AUT)