SIERRA NEVADA, Spain -- Austria's Michaela Kirchgasser won a
giant slalom on a steep and demanding course Saturday for her first World Cup victory.
She rallied from third place after the first run and completed the two trips down the Fuente del Tesoro course in 2 minutes, 14.41 seconds.
"I knew I could win, but I wasn't expecting it today," said Kirchgasser, who let out a big scream when she crossed the finish line and saw her name atop the leaderboard.
Nicole Hosp, the Austrian who won the giant slalom at the world championships and leads the giant slalom standings, skied the fastest second leg and finished 0.42 seconds behind. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who had led after the first run, was third. Olympic champion Julia Mancuso of the United States was sixth,
holding her position from the opening leg.
Kirchgasser's previous best World Cup results were second in a super-combi in Reiteralm, Austria, in December and third in a giant slalom at Aspen, Colo., in November. She was the 2003 world junior slalom champion.
Kirchgasser finished fourth in the giant slalom at the worlds. She sprained her thumb during training Friday and needed painkillers but said the injury did not affect her.
"You ski with your feet, not your thumb," she said.
Sweden's Anja Paerson, coming off a five-medal performance at the worlds, finished fourth. Austria's Marlies Schild was seventh and teammate Renate Goetschl 14th. Italy's Denise Karbon, second after the opening run, fell during her second trip.
Goetschl leads the overall World Cup standings with 1,019 points. Schild is second with 952 points, followed by Mancuso with 943 and Hosp with 939.
Hosp increased her lead in giant slalom standings and has 310 points. Poutiainen is second with 274 and Kirchgasser advanced from fifth to third with 237.
Hosp still has a cold from the worlds and said it slowed her during the opening leg, where she placed eighth.
"I always do better in the second run," she said. "Mentally I'm more prepared, it's easier for me to attack."
The course has been off the World Cup circuit since 1999.
"It's steep on the beginning and down here at the finish," Poutiainen said. "At the middle it's flat but it goes really fast and you really have to be quick on your feet. It's not an easy course."
Poutiainen was the last skier down in the second run and still led Kirchgasser at the course's midpoint. She lost her lead on the steep bottom section.
"I tried to tell myself that it's just half the race, and it is," Poutiainen said. "But when you come down after leading the first run and see that you're not leading anymore, your first reaction is always disappointment."