Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch won the women's alpine skiing World Cup slalom race here on Saturday, with a knife-edge lead of 00.01secs over Slovakia's Veronika Zuzulova. Canada's Marie-Michele Gagnon was third, 00.11secs back, in her first-ever podium finish.
The taste of victory was sweet for Olympic champion Hoefl-Riesch - who also topped last season's overall World Cup standings - as she had not won in the slalom since January 2011 and crashed out last week in Ofterschwang, Germany. "I was looking for a podium today and I had nothing to lose, no globe to win, just points to score for next season," Hoefl-Riesch said.
She had placed third in the first leg, behind Zuzulova and world champion Marlies Schild of Austria. Schild, who has already secured the slalom title after dominating throughout the season, came in sixth in Saturday's second leg, 00.29secs back. Schild noted that she had struggled on the piste from the very start.