Mario Matt won his third slalom of the season in Zagreb and made it clear the race for the discipline's World Cup was far from over.

The double world champion from Austria saw off the challenge of Croatia's Ivica Kostelic, with Austria's Reinfried Herbst taking third place.

Matt, overshadowed by Jean-Baptiste Grange at the beginning of the season, is now tied with the Frenchman with three slalom victories each.

Grange still leads the slalom standings with 462 points, with Matt now second on 405, but the French skier failed to score points on Sunday after sliding out in the second leg.

Leader after the morning's first run, Matt was solid and consistent in the second and finished in a combined time of one minute and 51.36 seconds.

"My skiing in the first leg was easily my best this season," Matt said. "I'm coming back stronger than ever and the last two slaloms of the season take place on pistes I like very much."

Local hope Kostelic, 0.33 seconds further back, had to be content with second place, his fourth podium spot in succession.

"Matt was a class above the rest today and to be runner-up here, with all the pressure and expectations on my shoulders is just great," said Kostelic.

"I would never have hoped of taking part in a World Cup race in Zagreb anyway.

Matt's team-mate Herbst, winner of last week's slalom at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, was seven hundredths of a second behind the Croatian.

Fourth place went to the once invincible Italian Giorgio Rocca, his best placing in more than a year.

Croatian hopes had been high before the second leg as Kostelic was only three hundredths of a second behind Matt.

But the 2001 and 2007 world champion was too strong, powering his way to his 11th World Cup victory.

Two slaloms are left before the end of the season, in Kranjska Gora and Bormio next month to decide the outcome of the discipline's World Cup.

Meanwhile, the circuit crosses the Atlantic for a series of races on the Whistler Mountain slopes to be used at the 2010 Olympics.

Reuters