Battle for overall is close between Norwegians

	Thomas Stangassinger

"It will be fun... I'm really happy to have saved my chances until the last race," said Aamodt. "This has been one of my best races ever. It was great to start with number one this morning and I did my best to finish among the top-3. I will apply the same tactic in the giant slalom—I have nothing to lose."

Kjus' advance on his long-time friend Aamodt decreased to 32 points. The overall World Cup leader finished 13th which still allowed him to score 20 World Cup points.

Hermann Maier, who was also competing in the slalom, finished a far 16th, six seconds behind the winner and did not score points.

Switzerland's Marci Casanova reached his first ever World Cup podium in front of his teammate Didier Plaschy and Christian Mayer, the winner in the super-G. Reigning World Champion Kalle Palander straddled a gate at the middle of the first run and was disqualified as was Austria's new star Benjamin Raich.

"This World Cup titles means a lot to me and I fought hard to win it..."— Thomas Stangassinger

Stangassinger, who won the first of his 10 World Cup slaloms ten years ago in Mont Ste Anne, Quebec, achieved an impressive comeback in the second run after a controlled first leg in which he lost 74/100 on the leader.

Taking no extra risk on the challenging slalom slope which was in much better shape today than the previous night for the women's race, Stangassinger only clocked the fourth best time behind Rocca, Aamodt and Plaschy. Slovenia's Jure Kosir, who still had a chance to beat him in the final slalom standings, was a far 18th after bad mistake on the final steep part of the hill.

	Men's Podium

"That's a great way to win the World Cup," he said after the race. "The course is really challenging and I preferred to be carefull this mroning. But I felt very confident in the second run and I decided to take more risks. You are also more focused when you ski aggressively."

Last year, Stangassinger lost the slalom World Cup in the last race in Crans-Montana to his teammate Thomas Sykora. This time he was not afraid to ski at his limits to capture the Crystal Globe. This is Stangassinger's most prestigious success since his Olympic win in 1994. He also won bronze and silver medals at the World Championships in 1991 and 1993.

"This World Cup titles means a lot to me and I fought hard to win it after my tough defeats in the last two years," he added. "It's very difficult to be consistent in slalom during the entire season."

The Austrian veteran didn't want to comment his plans about his future. "I don't know yet what I'll do next season— I need some time to check what I wish to do," he said.

Stangassinger is married has a young daugther. "It would be nice now to remain at home after this great success," he said.

Great fights will take place on Sunday during the last giant slalom where Kjus and Aamodt will battle for the overall World Cup title, and Hermann Maier and Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen will aim to win win the GS World Cup trophy.

Kjus, the reigning World Champion in that event, is favored to finish ahead of his teammate who only reached the podium in GS once this season, in Adelboden where he was 3rd. But the overall leader is also tired.

"It will be hard because Kjetil is very motivated," Kjus explained. "I expected him to do well today. I had two normal runs but I'll need to be more aggressive tomorrow." It's the first time ever that two skiers from the same team can win the overall title before the last race of the season. They both have won the title in the past—Lasse in 1996 and Kjetill in 1994.

Aamodt would be in the lead in the overall standings with more luck in the last speed events: he would have scored 16 extra points in the super-G if he had finished 15th instead of 16th, but he has no regrets. "We all faces tough moments during the season," Aamodt explained. "Lasse missed many races because of his bad health. This is part of the game."

Among the other favorites for the giant slalom are the other Austrians as Raich, Stefan Eberharter and Christian Mayer as well as Switzerland's Steve Locher. Bode Miller will aim for another top-10 place.

— Mountain Zone European Ski Correspondent