Riding on the big lead from the first run, Ligety toppled Benjamin Reich of Austria, who climbed to second place from 17th with the fastest second run in warm weather which allowed better skiing to earlier starters.

Despite being 1.43 seconds slower than Reich in the second run, Ligety's overall time of 2:30.80 was 0.18 seconds faster than that of the Austrian veteran, making him the first ever competitor to record six wins in the same discipline at one World Cup venue.

Third place went to Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, who finished 0.25 seconds behind the winner.

Ligety told the press after the race that he had always liked the Vitranc piste and commended those who worked on the track, which was better than during Friday training runs despite very warm weather.

Reich said that Ligety was without a doubt the best giant slalom skier and added that he was happy to be on the podium with someone as young as Kristoffersen. Reich was also pleasantly surprised with the condition of the track.

Kristoffersen, who is only 19, said that sharing the podium with Reich was very special for him because he used to watch the Austrian skiing when he was growing up.

He added that he had a few very good weeks and told the press he liked having older team mates because he benefited from their experience in skiing and life in general.

The leader in the World Cup giant slalom rankings, Marcel Hirscher of Austria, finished fourth, 0.63 seconds adrift.

The win takes Ligety into second place in the giant slalom rankings, 50 points behind Hirscher, who has 510 points.

Meanwhile, Hirscher moved closer to overall World Cup standings leader Aksel Lund Swindal of Norway, who was 17th today. The Austrian now has 1,005 points in second place and could leapfrog Swindal (1,046 points) in Sunday's slalom.

The difficult conditions on the Podkoren piste in the second run took a toll on many of the morning leaders, including Alexis Pinturault of France, who lost 11 places to finish 18th, dropping him to third in the giant slalom rankings.

Felix Neureuther of Germany was another victim, losing six places to finish 12th, 1.64 seconds behind Ligety.

The inexperienced Kristoffersen was one of the few leaders who managed to stay composed on the bumpy piste to secure his first World Cup podium place in the giant slalom.

The second-fastest time of the afternoon run belong to Tim Jitloff of the US, who jumped 15 places to eighth.