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Montillet wins super giant slalom
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) -- Carole Montillet of France captured her first World Cup victory Friday, edging Austria's Renate Goetschl by .01 seconds to win a super giant slalom. Montillet, whose previous best were two second-place finishes, mastered the challenging Kandahar course hardened by packed artificial snow in one minute, 23.15 second, with defending World Cup champion Goetschl at 1:23.16. Brigitte Obermoser of Austria was third in 1:23.36. Regine Cavagnoud of France, the world champion who has dominated the event on the circuit, failed to crack the top two for the first time this season, settling for fourth and finishing .33 back of her countrywoman. The World Cup race was the first since the world championship ended on Feb. 11 and none of the skiers who made the podium in St. Anton, Austria, finished among the top three this time. Silver medalist Isolde Kostner of Italy was sixth while bronze medal winner Hilde Gerg of Germany was just 24th. Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden was fifth in her best showing of the season. Cavagnoud, whose run lacked her usual aggressive attacking style, had a streak of three straight World Cup wins in the super-G snapped. Montillet, a nine-year tour veteran, was second out of the starting gate, and while several racers passed her time at the top, all of them lost time sliding around the tight curves in the course's middle. The 27-year-old, whose specialty is the downhill, also probably got an edge since it was her coach who set the course. Her best previous super-G this season was a third place in Val d'Isere, France. She has had better success in the downhill, finishing second in 1997 in Lake Louise and again this year in the same Canadian resort. Goetschl and Cavagnoud both closed to within a handful of points of Croatia's Janica Kostelic in the tight race for the overall title.
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