GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AFP) - Austria's Reinfried Herbst claimed his first World Cup victory on European soil when he won the men's slalom here Saturday ahead of Manfred Moelgg and Ivica Kostelic.
Herbst, who recorded the fastest time over both runs, timed a total of 1min 42.0sec, 0.65sec up on ever-improving Italian Moelgg with Croatian ace Kostelic a further 0.43sec adrift.
It was the second World Cup victory for Herbst, 29, who also picked up a silver at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.
Despite finishing in 25th place 3.65sec off the pace, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange, the winner of three slaloms this seasons, remains atop the World Cup slalom standings ahead of Moelgg.
"It's a bad day," said Grange. "I haven't had any good feelings on this run since yesterday. It's a little moment when my form is starting to dip."
The only consolation for Grange is that his former rival for the slalom title, Mario Matt, crashed out and picked up no points, the Austrian dropping to fourth in the slalom standings.
Grange now has a total of 462 points and a 91-point lead on Moelgg, who fancies himself for the slalom title.
"I'm still in contention for the slalom and giant slalom World Cup, so I'm totally fired up," said Moelgg, who is still looking for his maiden series win having claimed nine podium places, five of those this season.
The Italian's "great" run, he admitted, was no match for that of Herbst.
"Reinfried skied unbelievably. I'm still waiting for that first win, but I'm not too stressed. It just means I'll have to wait a little longer," added Moelgg.
Herbst, whose only previous win in the World Cup came at Shigakogen, Japan, two years ago, could not conceal his delight.
"Words can't describe how happy I am with this win. Up till now I've had a lot of ups and downs, mainly because of three injuries and six operations," said the 29-year-old.
"It's never easy to get back to your best after so many setbacks."
He added: "Today I had the fastest times from both runs, so I have to say that this kind of steep run suits me well. "
Kostelic claimed his fourth podium place in as many weeks following runner-up places at the Val d'Isere and Chamonix super-combined races and his third place in the combined at Kitzbuehel.
"Last week's runner-up place (behind Bode Miller) gave me a fair bit of confidence going into the race," said Kostelic, the brother of retired women's great Janica.
"I've been getting better as the season goes on, and this first podium (of the season) in the slalom is proof of that."
In the overall standings, Austria's Benjamin Raich, who finished 11th in the slalom, failed to take full advantage of the elimination of Bode Miller in the first run.
Miller, bidding for a second overall crown after that of 2005, has a 98-point lead on Austria's 2006 champion.
