Roland Fischnaller won the Snowboard World Cup parallel slalom race in Bad Gastein.

The Italian beat compatriot Aaron March in the final to the gold to pick up his third World Cup win of the season, while Slovenia's Rok Flander beat Germany's Patrick Bussler in the bronze medal race.

Fischnaller (pictured) now leads the World Cup rankings ahead of Austria's Benjamin Karl.

"I took over the World Cup lead today but it's going to be a very hard challenge to keep hold to it," he said.

"I will fight hard and hope, that it pays off in the end. It would be a dream come true for me.

"So far, it's my best season ever. We had a very good summer training and I'm mentally pretty strong right now. I just enjoy every race and see chances to attack on each course and not spots where I should stay focused."

In the women's event Switzerland's Patrizia Kummer won gold, her third World Cup win on the trot, after beating compatriot Julie Zogg in the final. Austria's Marlon Kreiner beat Japan's Tomoka Takeuchi in the bronze medal race.

"Three wins in a row, I never thought of something like this," said Kummer, who leads the seasons standings by 740 points from Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli.

"If somebody would have told me this in the beginning of this season, I wouldn't have believed it.

"I'm so happy, I can't describe my feelings. If I know bring it all together in the Parallel Giant Slaloms, I guess everything is possible."

Eurosport