U.S. plans to debut new sled

With the Sochi Olympics now a little more than a year away, the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is finally set to debut what it hopes could be a key to American medal hopes.

A two-man sled — designed by BMW of North America — will make its first run in a World Cup race Saturday at Igls, Austria. A pair of Olympic four-man gold medalists, Steven Holcomb and Curt Tomasevicz, will be in the sled when it debuts.

If the debut goes well, it's likely that the sled will also be in the U.S. mix for this season's upcoming world championships at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

LIGETY LOSES SKI, RACE: At Wengen, Switzerland, Alexis Pinturault of France used his superior slalom skills to win a World Cup super-combined on Friday, while Ted Ligety skied out.

Pinturault was more than one second faster than any rival in the slalom to win by 1.15 seconds. He finished ahead of Ivica Kostelic of Croatia and Carlo Janka of Switzerland was third.

Ligety, who remains third overall, seemed set for a podium finish until his right ski slipped free making a turn.