Reuzenslalom vrouwen Cortina

Italy's Karen Putzer won her first World Cup race in nearly four years, beating the favourites in Cortina's giant slalom.

Putzer, whose last victory on the circuit was in March 2003, beat Olympic champion Julia Mancuso of the United States by 0.41 seconds in two minutes 46.93 seconds.

Denise Karbon completed a great day for the home team with third place, her first podium finish in nearly two years.

On a bad day for the usually dominant Austrians, the team had no one in the top 10. Their best finisher was Elisabeth Goergl in 11th.

The 28-year-old Putzer, a former world junior champion in giant slalom, led after the first leg on the Olympia delle Tofane course and held on to collect her eighth World Cup victory.

Putzer has entered only four races this season, since undergoing surgery on her right hip last May to correct a long-standing problem.

World Cup champion Anja Paerson of Sweden and giant slalom standings leader Nicole Hosp of Austria both failed to finish the first leg in the foggy conditions.

Hosp cut her lip and cheek in a crash but dismissed the injuries as trifling and said she was glad not to have hurt herself more seriously ahead of next month's world championships in Sweden.

With team mate Marlies Schild failing to complete the second run, the points at the top of the overall cup standings remained unchanged. Schild has 881 to Hosp's 828, though Mancuso moved up to 794 in third place.

Hosp held on to the giant slalom standings lead, with Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, fifth on Sunday, moving up to second 16 points behind the Austrian.

Putzer, who was cheered on by a large contingent from her nearby home village, said she had gone to New York last year for surgery after putting off her hip operation for years.

Mancuso had a similar operation with the same surgeon last year and has enjoyed superb form in Cortina, winning Friday's super-G and finishing second in Saturday's downhill.

The 22-year-old American, who also won a super-combined in Altenmarkt, Austria, last Sunday, said it was still too early to think about winning the overall World Cup.

Karbon was the last Italian woman to win a technical event, collecting her only World Cup victory in the Alta Badia giant slalom in December 2003.

Former overall cup champion Paerson, who has been unable to win a race since knee surgery at the end of last season, blamed new skis and the poor visibility for her exit.

Bron : Eurosprt.com