BORMIO, Italy (AP) _ Reigning World Cup slalom champion Ivica Kostelic won his third consecutive race Sunday, further strengthening the defense of his crown. Kostelic, third after the opening leg, delivered a blistering second run down the Stelvio course to win with an aggregate time of 1 minute, 49.03 seconds, a strong .43 ahead of his nearest rival Bode Miller of the United States.
![](http://www.xtdev.com/ski/gallery/news/112ivicajanicaslbormio.jpg) Janica and Ivica Kostelic after the final in Bormio
Miller came back from even further. Ninth after the opening leg with a whopping 1.05 to make up, Miller aggressively attacked the course his second trip down to cross in 1:49.43 and complete his first slalom of the season. Norway's Hans-Petter Buraas was third in 1:49.64. Kostelic made the headlines last Sunday in Kranjska Gora, when he and sister Janica each clinched a slalom, becoming the first siblings in the history of the World Cup to win on the same day.
![](http://www.xtdev.com/ski/gallery/news/105ivicakrainska.jpg) Ivica Kostelic
Janica, the winner of the World Cup overall in 2001 and the first Alpine skier to capture four medals in a single Olympics, was able to celebrate her brother's victory with him this week, acting as a forerunner in the men's slalom Sunday. Ivica Kostelic now leads the slalom standings with 318 points after four races. The Croat's only blemish this season was a 15th place in Park City, Utah, at the season-opener.
Fastest in the opening leg, Kalle Palander saw his hopes of giving Finland its first ever World Cup victory go up in smoke when a sluggish second effort landed him in fifth in 1:49.76. Olympic champion Jean-Pierre Vidal, second heading into the final leg, had an even more disappointing run, crashing out in the final section. American Erik Schlopy was 11th in 1:50.51. The slalom took a back seat on the day after the Austrian team announced the imminent return of Hermann Maier, who will make his long-anticipated comeback in a giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland.
AP, 12.01.2003
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