Amiez hands Tomba defeat

FRENCHMAN Sebastien Amiez inflicted a rare defeat on Alberto Tomba in Lillehammer, Norway, yesterday to take the slalom World Cup.

Amiez, who had started the final slalom of the season 19 points ahead of his Italian rival, claimed second place in the race to clinch the cup, while Tomba skied an error-ridden second leg to finish fourth.

The race was won by Austrian Thomas Sykora in a two-leg time of one minute 44.40 seconds. Amiez, who set the fastest time in the first leg, had a time of 1:44.87, while Slovenian Jure Kosir was third in 1:44.93.

Double world champion Tomba, who had been only 0.09 seconds behind Amiez after the first leg, clocked 1:45.05.

Amiez, the first Frenchman to win the slalom World Cup since Jean-Noel Augert in 1972, topped the final standings with 539 points. Tomba was second on 490 with Sykora third on 446.

"I'm glad for him," said Tomba. "He deserves to win the World Cup because he's been more consistent. He might become the new Tomba in the future because he's such a great skier."

Tomba, who had won a silver medal on the same Hafjell piste in the slalom at the 1994 Olympics, was critical of both the course and the Norwegian crowd.

"It was a horrible final because of the atmosphere from the public," he said. "It was very different from the Olympics. I couldn't be at my best here because the snow was not good enough for 25 skiers."

Amiez (23), who was not born when Augert gave France their last slalom World Cup win, threw his arms up in the air on hearing he had been declared the winner.

"I was a bit afraid to crack under pressure," he said. "I knew it would be difficult. I couldn't afford a single mistake with Tomba so close behind."

Amiez won only one race this season, in January in Veysonnaz, but he finished all nine slaloms and ended in the top five in all of them but one.

"If somebody had told me when the season started that I would be fighting with Tomba for the title in the very last race, I wouldn't have believed him," he said. "I'm so proud."

Earlier, rising Swiss star Karin Roten scored her first World Cup win in the women's slalom.