. But Carmouche finished the round to secure the win.Jim Mille

SOELDEN, Austria -- Alexis Pinturault carried his outstanding giant slalom form from last year into the new World Cup campaign, dominating the season-opener on Sunday to leave his rivals in awe.Having finished runner-up to Marcel Hirscher in the discipline standings for the past two years, the Frenchman won both runs on the Rettenbach glacier to immediately position himself as the main contender for the title.Its all completely new when you start a new season. Everything youve done before is over, said Pinturault after his commanding victory and his seventh straight podium in GS.Pinturault finished in a two-run time of 2 minutes, 14.01 seconds to lead defending overall champion Hirscher by 0.70. Felix Neureuther of Germany was 1.37 behind in third while Zan Kranjec of Slovenia took fourth for his first career top-10 result.Olympic and world GS champion Ted Ligety improved from 14th position after the opening run to fifth, 1.65 seconds off the lead. The American competed in his first race since tearing the ACL in his right knee nine months ago.Only three of the last 37 World Cup giant slaloms have not been won by Pinturault, Hirscher or Ligety.Pinturault built on his first-run lead to take his 16th career win and seventh in GS, matching the French record set by great Jean-Claude Killy in 1967-68.Thats not really my goal, Pinturault said of chasing records. Jean-Claude is one of the biggest French skiers of all time but there are so many other great skiers. I am just thinking about taking risks and skiing fast.Pinturault was clean in both runs and wasnt hampered by changing conditions. After a sun-soaked opening run, partly cloudy conditions dominated during the final run.One thing is really easy in ski racing, he said. There is no strategy. You always have to push and go faster.Pinturault and Hirscher each won four GS races last season, while the Austrian captured the season title in the discipline.The Frenchmans convincing performance made him the favorite for the GS title this time, maybe even for the overall title, Hirscher said.If you watch at last years season more in detail, you will see that Alexis in 2016 was dominating. He was flying through the gates, the Austrian said. He is maybe the favorite for the overall. He can ski in all events so for me he is the man to beat.Hirscher, who hinted he wasnt satisfied with his own form in training, said he was super happy with finishing runner-up, especially since recovering from a near-crash halfway down his second run.Third-placed Neureuther also said Pinturault skied in a league of his own.I had two solid runs and did not make too many mistakes but Alexis and Marcel were out of reach today, the German said.After a rather conservative opening run, Ligety showed flashes of his usual strength and used his trademark fast transition from the steep pitch onto the flat finish section to post the third-best time in the final run.Coming fifth made him not euphoric but Ligety said he was definitely happy with fifth place to start it off with coming back from the knee injury that hampered his preparation in the offseason.My body feels good, I dont have any pain in my knee, said Ligety, who won here last year for a record fourth time and has never finished outside the top 10 in 10 starts.Ligety will skip the next race -- a slalom in Levi, Finland, in three weeks -- and fully concentrate on the next GS in Beaver Creek, Colorado, during the first weekend of December.Now I can get a month of miles and high intensity, he said. 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Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. NEW YORK -- The Latest on UFC 205, with Conor McGregor facing Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title in the main event (all times local):11:20 p.m.Yoel Romero caught Chris Weidman with a flying right knee and finished him off with a spectacular knockout victory at UFC 205.Weidman sat in the octagon with blood pouring down his face and onto his chest. Romero sprinted toward the cage, flipped over the top and ran a lap in celebration.Romero is the No. 1 contender for Michael Bispings middleweight title. Bisping was shown on the big screen and extended his middle fingers at Romero.Romero won the final bout before three scheduled title fights were set to go off at UFC 205.Madonna and Hugh Jackman both watched from the Madison Square Garden seats.---10:45 p.m.Miesha Tate announced her retirement inside the octagon following a loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205.The 30-year-old Tate says the loss played a role in her decision. She says: I had a lot more to give but I couldnt pull it out of myself.Tate defeated Holly Holm in March to win the bantamweight title and then lost the belt in her first title defense to Amanda Nunes in July.Tate (18-7) had coached Pennington on The Ultimate Fighter, a reality show used by the UFC to recruit new talent.Pennington won a methodical bout and unanimous decision on Saturday night, with only one judge awarding Tate a round. It was the first of two womens bouts on the main UFC 205 card.The Madison Square Garden crowd gave Tate a loud ovation following her surprise announcement.---10:10 p.m.Frankie Edgar made the short trip from Toms River, New Jersey, to Madison Square Garden a memorable one.With a packed crowd going wild for the local favorite, Edgar defeated Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision in the final preliminary bout at UFC 205 on Saturday night.Edgar had the crowd on its feet for most of the fight and seemed close a couple of times to choking out Stephens in the second round. Edgar kept his arms around Stephens and his eye on the clock to how much time was left in the round.Edgar said in the cage that he wants to fight again in New York at UFC 209 on Feb. 11 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.Tim Boetsch knocked out Rafael Natal in the first round in one of six preliminary bouts.New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., former New York Rangers great Mark Messier, and Jersey Shore star Jenni JWoww Farley were among the celebrities in the crowd for the early fights. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft sat cageside with UFC President Dana White.---9:45 p.m.Rashad Evans and Donald Cowboy Cerrone werent going to miss UFC 205 even though their respective fights were scrapped.Evans, the former light heavyweight champion, had a medical issue and his fight against Tim Kennedy was scrapped and booked for UFC 206. He was in Michael Johnsons corner for his lightweight bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Whatever advice Evans had, it didnt work. Nurmagomedov pummeled and choked out Johnson and improved to 24-0.Cerrone, a wildly poppular fighter, was scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum.dddddddddddd Gastelum failed to make weight Friday and the fight was canceled. Cerrone was paid his show money and rebooked for UFC 206. UFC announced during the card that Cerrone will fight welterweight Matt Brown at UFC 206.---9:30 p.m.Rising lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov is realizing stars are made with their mouths as much as their fists.The undefeated Russian fighter touted himself for a title shot and compared himself to Irish megastar Conor McGregor on Saturday night following a convincing win against Michael Johnson, a flashy striker. Johnson landed some shots early in the first but couldnt contend with Nurmagomedov when the fight went to the ground in each of three rounds. Nurmagomedov got a submission win in the third.After winning, Nurmagomedov put a giant wig on TV commentator Joe Rogan, then immediately compared home countries with McGregor, one of the sports biggest draws, saying Russia offers a much larger fan base. He turned the tables on Rogan when asked whats next, asking Rogan whether he deserved a title shot.The 24-0 record makes it hard to argue against the divisions No. 2 contender.---8:30 p.m.The first winner of a UFC fight in New York is Liz Carmouche, a bantamweight whos looking to rise in her division to contend against the likes of superstar Ronda Rousey and champ Amanda Nunes.Carmouche beat Katlyn Chookagian in a split decision Saturday night at UFC 205 in the first bout of a stacked 11-fight card.Two judges awarded Carmouche the first two rounds of a three-round fight.Carmouche says she worried after Chookagian landed a big kick in the third round, a blow that spurred a roar from the Madison Square Garden crowd anticipating a stoppage. But Carmouche finished the round to secure the win.Jim Miller scored a decision win over Thiago Alves in the other fight aired only online. Vicente Luque followed with a knockout of Belal Muhammad in the first round.---8:10 p.m.UFC is legal and live at Madison Square Garden.UFC 205 on Saturday night marked the companys debut card in New York following the end of the states nearly two-decade MMA ban.UFC stacked the card with three title fights that were expected to help set a gate record at Madison Square Garden.Eddie Alvarez defends the lightweight championship against Conor McGregor in the main event. McGregor is easily UFCs biggest male star and had fans going wild for him all week in New York. McGregor, the featherweight champ, is attempting to become the first UFC fighter to hold championship belts in two divisions at the same time.Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends the womens strawweight title against Karolina Kowalkiewicz and UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley fights Stephen Thompson.StubHub had tickets for sale for as much as $3,000 at the start of the night for what UFC had billed as its biggest and best card of all time. ' ' '