Olympic champion Thomas Stangassinger of Austria tested next winter's Olympic course Sunday and found it to his liking. He won a World Cup slalom, his first cup victory in three years.
Stangassinger had the fastest second run of the day and edged Finn-Christian Jagge of Norway by .84 seconds for the title. He started next to last on the second run.Stangassinger had an aggregate time of 1 minute, 41.10 seconds.
Ole-Christian Furuseth of Norway, who beat Stangassinger 48.93 seconds to 49.32 on the first run, lost his balance and almost fell on his second run. He quickly recovered and finished third in 1:42.32.
Italian star Alberto Tomba, skidded out in the middle of the Mount Higashidate course on his first run. It added to dismal weekend and a frustrating season. In the giant slalom Saturday, Tomba, winner of five Olympic and World Championship gold medals, failed to qualify for the second heat.
"I crossed my skis at a gate," Tomba said after Sunday's race.
"The 9 o'clock start is too early. You have to be on the hill by 7:30 when everybody's sleeping. And I couldn't sleep well last night because of the time difference."
Asked to rate his chances of returning next February for the Olympics, Tomba said, "Maybe 50 percent."
Tomba, who struggled all season after hurting his wrist last fall, has talked about starting on a movie career in the spring.
Stangassinger's victory gave him a shot at catching slalom points leader Thomas Sykora of Austria, who did not finish his first run Sunday.
Sykora, winner of five World Cup slaloms this season, remained at 666 points, while Stangassinger gained 100 points to 590.
On Saturday, world champion Michael von Gruenigen of Switzerland defended his overall giant slalom by winning his third giant slalom title of the season.
The World Cup circuit moves to Vail, Colo., for its season finale for men and women this week.