He was fifth after the opening run but on the second he was superb to claim a surprise win ahead of the German duo of Fritz Dopfer and Felix Neureuther in the final race of what has been a dramatic World Championships.

Grange clocked a combined time of 1min 57.47sec to finish 0.35 seconds ahead of Dopfer and 0.55 quicker than Neureuther, crossing the line in deteriorating conditions.

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen narrowly missed out on a medal as he was just 0.02 outside of the top three. 

Highly-fancied American Ted Ligety, winner of his third consecutive giant slalom world crown on Friday (February 13), could not quite match his earlier achievement on home snow as he languished in 21st place.

Austrian overall World Cup leader and defending champion Marcel Hirscher was fastest after the first run, but a torrid second run ended his chances of a third gold at the Championships as he did not finish.

Austria's Marcel Hirscher cut a dejected figure as he could not add to his two gold medals at the World Championships following a mistake towards the end of his second run
©Getty Images



In a star-studded field, Grange ensured he stayed in contention as he posted a first run time of 1:04.26, but up until late on in Hirscher's final run, it looked as though the Austrian would add the slalom gold to his super combined and team event world titles.

But the 25-year-old struggled to navigate tricky conditions as the snowfall became heavier, which had a clear effect on visibility, and his World Championships ended in rather disappointing style.

That handed the initiative to Baptiste as he effectively knew that, barring a miracle, Hirscher's unfortunate mistake would hand him his first world title since he won gold at the 2011 World Championships in Garmisch, Germany.

His victory on the final day of a thrilling event in Colorado saw him banish his Beever Creek demons as it was at this resort where he suffered an injury back in 2009, which required surgery, meaning he did not compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

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