VAL D'ISERE, France (Reuters) - Bode Miller won the final super-combined event of the season on Sunday and took the discipline's World Cup title.
The American's third successive victory in a combined event after Kitzbuehel and Chamonix, and his 30th World Cup victory, allowed him to extend his lead in the overall standings.
For the first time in World Cup history, two Croatians, Ivica Kostelic and Natko Zrncic-Dim, were on the podium, finishing second and third respectively.
Miller, winner of the Bormio and Wengen downhills this season, crushed all the opposition in the morning speed leg, mastering the demanding Face de Bellevarde to leave his closest rival, Swiss Didier Defago, 1.37 seconds behind.
"I did a couple of mistakes on the top part and I was a little surprised to clock such a fast time. But my new skis were fantastic in the turns, like skiing on a carpet," Miller said.
With the nearest slalom specialist, Swiss Daniel Albrecht, 1.73 seconds adrift, and home favourite Jean-Baptiste Grange 2.77 seconds off the pace, the skier from New Hampshire needed only an average performance in the afternoon slalom to secure victory.
He skied a clean run, taking no risks, to eventually lead Kostelic by 0.38 seconds. Zrncic-Dim was 0.99 seconds behind Miller for his first top-three placing.
Grange, winner of the Wengen combined and arguably the best slalom specialist, disappointed home fans when he missed two gates in succession in the afternoon leg and was eliminated.
Miller can now set his sights on the downhill and overall World Cup titles.
His main opponents in those standings had a poor day in Val d'Isere.
Downhill World Cup leader Didier Cuche of Switzerland and versatile Austrian Benni Raich, second in the World Cup overall standings, both finished three seconds off the pace in the morning run and were not in serious contention in the afternoon even though Raich limited the damage to finish sixth.
The men's World Cup moves to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany for a slalom next weekend.
(Reporting by Francois Thomazeau and Patrick Lang; Editing by Clare Fallon)
