BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Benjamin Raich of Austria captured a World Cup giant slalom title today, edging Ted Ligety of the United States by 0.01 seconds.

Raich won in a combined time of 2 minutes, 24.61 seconds. Ligety led after the first leg but couldn't make up ground on Raich at the bottom of the Birds of Prey course.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway finished third, 0.10 seconds behind Raich. Svindal earlier won the downhill and super-G at Beaver Creek a year after his horrific crash there.

Bode Miller had a fast final run going before his left ski slid out and he skidded off the course. The skier from Franconia, N.H., also crashed in the downhill and needed some fancy maneuvering to avoid a spill in the super-G, where he wound up 14th.

Raich started his final run 1.05 seconds behind Ligety, but breezed through the sun-drenched course, quickly making up the difference.

"I was pushing really hard," said Raich, who finished eighth in the giant slalom at this event last year. "You have to do that if you want to win races."

Ligety, the reigning giant slalom champion, was a little surprised when he looked up after crossing the finish line and saw his name pop up in second place. This was his second straight podium finish in the discipline, having come in third this year in Soelden, Austria.

"I felt like I didn't ski that badly," he said. "It felt like I had a pretty clean run, no major bobbles. I was pretty happy with that."

Switzerland's Daniel Albrecht, the defending champion in the event at Birds of Prey, slid off the course on his second run.

Hermann Maier, who celebrated his 36th birthday today, missed a gate and failed to finish his first run.

"I was bad," the Austrian said. "I had a mistake in the upper section and I found myself behind. ... I tried make up time and I went out."

Still, it was a solid weekend for Maier, who finished second in the super-G and 12th in the downhill.