Vlhova reigns in Shiffrin's absence

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland - Petra Vlhova took advantage of Mikaela Shiffrin taking the day off to win a World Cup parallel slalom event on Sunday.

Vlhova rallied from a slower start in the final to edge ahead of Anna Swenn-Larsson by just 0.02 seconds at the line.

They had filled the podium places behind Shiffrin in a traditional slalom two weeks ago at Killington, Vermont.

The Slovakian racer's 10th career World Cup win was the first in a season where she shapes as the biggest rival to Shiffrin winning a fourth straight overall World Cup title.

"I had some difficult times the last two weeks so this victory is really important," said Vlhova, who clutched her right hand in pain in the finish area.

In the third-place race, Franziska Gritsch beat Meta Hrovat to take her first career podium finish.

Shiffrin won the parallel event at St. Moritz last year, but said Saturday after placing third in super-G she would rest and manage her upcoming schedule in France. A giant slalom was due to be raced on Tuesday at Courchevel and Val d'Isere stages downhill and Alpine combined races next weekend.

Still, Shiffrin retained a big lead in the overall standings with almost twice as many World Cup points as her nearest competitor after nine of 41 scheduled events.

With a sixth-place finish on Sunday, Federica Brignone rose to second in the standings. She was also runner-up in a super-G on Saturday when Shiffrin was third.

In Val d'Isere on Sunday, Alexis Pinturault won his first World Cup slalom in almost six years by a big margin after American prospect Luke Winters could not sustain an unexpected challenge.

Pinturault extended his first-run lead to finish 1.44 seconds ahead of Olympic champion Andre Myhrer. Stefano Gross was third, a further 0.03 back.

On seeing his time in the finish area, Pinturault celebrated by throwing both of his ski poles high into the air.

"This one is pretty important," said the 28-year-old Frenchman, who now leads the overall standings after eight races as the only man with two wins.

The race was made more dramatic by Winters, who soared wearing start bib No 40 to be second-fastest in the opening run.

An aggressive second run saw the 22-year-old from Oregon make errors that dropped him to 19th place and out of contention for a first American podium in men's slalom since March 2011.

AP