Matthias Mayer earned a narrow win as he finished in a time of 1min 49.83sec, 0.02 seconds ahead of compatriot Max Franz, while Hannes Reichelt came through to take third.

The result saw Austria continue to build on their momentum after they took nine gold medals at the Alpine Ski World Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado.

It proved to be a disappointing outing for recently-crowned world champion Patrick Kueng of Switzerland, as he could only manage 13th place, and teammate Beat Feuz, who won bronze at the world championships, rounded off the podium.

"I finished second place this year three times, and I was fourth in the super G at World Champs - so I'm very happy about this win today," Mayer said.

"To be on the podium with two teammates makes this race event more special.

"It's an awesome feeling for us today."

The imperious Anna Fenninger continued her recent dominance as she added a World Cup win to her Olympic and world championship gold medals ©Getty Images



In the women's giant slalom event, held in the Slovenian city of Maribor, there was more Austrian success as Olympic and double World champion Anna Fenninger claimed her second World Cup victory of the season as she clocked a combined time of 2:24.50.

That proved enough to edge Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg by just 0.04 seconds, while Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein was third.

The result lifted Fenninger on to a points total of 901 in the overall standings, and she now trails Slovenia's Tina Maze, who won two golds and a silver at the recent World Championships, by 84 points.

Much of the pre-event publicity had surrounded Maze but she disappointed the home fans, crashing on the first run, leaving the way clear for Fenninger.

"I felt that I was not skiing that well in the middle section," the Austrian said.

"So I really tried to push hard in the lower part.

"I felt I was faster then, but I didn't know if that was going to be enough.

"I was of course really happy when I saw the green light."

The women's competition continues with the slalom race tomorrow, while the super-G race rounds off the men's event.

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