Austria's Benjamin Raich stormed to the top of the World Cup rankings with an emphatic victory in the men's slalom in Bad Kleinkichheim.

The 2006 overall champion made light of a tough course to finish with a combined time of 1:34.46 -- an impressive 0.66 seconds ahead of second-placed Swede Jens Byggmark.

The Italian ski team completed their strong showing this weekend by taking the next three places.

Manfred Moelgg, second behind compatriot Massimiliano Blardone in Saturday's giant slalom, was third on Sunday -- 0.72 seconds behind Raich - with team-mates Patrick Thaler and Cristian Deville finishing fourth and fifth.

"It's always a fantastic feeling to win," said Raich after clinching his 30th victory on the World Cup circuit.

"But there's no point thinking about the overall title yet, because so much can happen between now and the end of the season." Raich led Byggmark by 0.24 seconds following Sunday's opening run but extended his winning margin with an exemplary second run.

"I've been happy with my form so far, it was just a case of putting two good runs together," added Raich whose best previous performance this season was a second-placed finish in a Lake Louise super-G.

"Today was a real challenge because the first run was so icy and the second was so choppy, so this win is a real boost to my confidence and of course it's great to take the overall lead by winning here in Austria."

Sunday's win saw Raich climb above former team-mate Stefan Eberharter's haul of 29 World Cup victories.

The two-time Olympic champion is now Austria's second most successful World Cup skier behind 53-time winner Hermann Maier.

In the overall World Cup standings, Raich now holds a 73-point lead over Switzerland's Daniel Albrecht who could only manage a 16th place finish on Sunday.

The Austrian also leads the slalom discipline standings, with a 16-point lead over Moelgg.

Reuters