Jean-Batpiste Grange won the men's slalom in Kitzbuehel, while Maria Holaus was the surprise winner of the women's slalom in Cortina d'Ampezzo on a busy day of Alpine Skiing.

Men's Slalom - Kitzbuehel

Unstoppable Frenchman Jean-Batpiste Grange added a classic victory to his collection when he won the Kitzbuehel slalom.

After completing a rare double a week a go when he won a slalom and a combined in Wengen, the skier from Valloire kept his momentum to win in one minute and 45.04 seconds.

Grange, who also won a slalom in Alta Badia earlier in the season, dethroned Sweden's Jens Byggmark, who had won both slaloms held on the Austrian piste last year but had to be content with second place, 0.15 seconds behind the Frenchman.

Local hero Mario Matt, who won his first slalom in Kitzbuehel in 2000, took third place, 0.52 off the pace.

Boosted by his team mate's performances this season, France's Julien Lizeroux earned his best World Cup result in fourth place, missing the podium by 0.15 seconds.

France were expecting a lean spell in the technical events after the retirement of 2002 Olympic champion Jean-Pierre Vidal, who won in Kitzbuehel two years ago.

But the young guard have quickly taken over the baton and Grange is already being compared to skiing greats Jean-Claude Killy and Jean-Noel Augert, the two Frenchmen who won in Wengen and Kitzbuehel the same year, in 1967 and 1972 respectively.

Women's Super-G - Cortina d'Ampezzo

Unheralded Austrian Maria Holaus stunned the favourites with her first World Cup victory in a women's Super-G.

The 24-year-old, who was starting first, set the bar too high for all the other skiers to beat, speeding down the course at Cortina d'Ampezzo in one minute 24.63 seconds.

More of a downhill specialist, the skier from Brixen had never managed better than third in a World Cup race, in Sestriere last year.

"It's a new start for me because I had so many injury problems in the past," said Holaus, silver medallist in the junior downhill world championships in 2001.

"But starting first was a great plus because the snow was soft and did not hold. It also added to the pressure but I knew I had my chance and I took it," she said.

American Julia Mancuso, who won a super-G in Cortina last year, was second, 0.23 seconds behind, earning her sixth podium place of the season.

"Cortina is a piste that always suits me. Now I'm really looking forward to doing it again tomorrow," she said.

A second Super-G is scheduled on the same piste on Monday. With only two super-G races completed this winter, no clear hierarchy has emerged in the discipline.

Sweden's Anja Paerson and Switzerland's Martina Schild, winners in St Anton and Lake Louise respectively, were almost a second off the pace this time.

Third place went to Austria's Nicole Hosp, 0.05 seconds behind Mancuso, another excellent result for the World Cup overall champion.

Winner of two slaloms this season, the versatile Hosp looks ideally placed to retain her crystal globe.

With 799 points, she increased her lead on American Lindsey Vonn, who won Saturday's downhill but could manage no better than fifth on Sunday.

"I had decided not to do the downhill yesterday to keep strength for the super-Gs. I'm not really thinking about the overall standings yet, but it is part of the strategy to take as many points as I can," Hosp said.

"I was already on the podium here last year and this has special significance to be on it with Maria, who had so many problems in her career so far and amply deserves

Reuters