Switzerland's Sonja Nef offered herself the best possible New Year present in winning the giant slalom race in Maribor, Slovenia, a week after crashing out in Lienz, Austria.

The reigning giant slalom World Champion and dominator of the specialty last season achieved a nice comeback in this "Classic" in beating by 1,53 second Slovenia's new ski star Tina Maze while Norway's Stine Hofgard-Nilsen was 3rd a 1,64 second.

It was a disappointing day for Janica Kostelic, who showed a progressing form lately . She could not qualify for the second run after a cautious first run in which she lost over two seconds.

5th a year ago and 7th in 1999 in the giant slalom, Janica was obviously hoping to ski much faster today.

In fact, she never seemed to find her rhythm and skied too smoothly to have a chance to make the cut. The skier from Zagreb, who is not longer feeling major pains from her crash at Val d'Isere, didn't understand what happened to her.

"I don't know why I was so slow, I trained well in Austria in the past week and I was looking for a solid run here" she said afterwards as she got ready to train some slalom.

"It's quite embarrassing for a World Cup winner not to qualify, I skied like a beginner. I hope now to find back a good pace for the slaloms - and finish among the top-30".

Janica, who was skiing quite well at Val d'Isere before her latest accident, apparently needs one fine result to recover all her confidence and her aggressiveness. It may happen on Saturday in the slalom.

13th victory for Nef

It's Nef's 13th triumph in a World Cup race since 1996 and her second consecutive in that prestigious Slovenian competition organized since the early 1970's within the World Cup tour.

After this race, Nef reinforced her position in the lead of the GS standings and got closer to Dorfmeister in the Overall standings.

With two good results in the coming two slaloms on Saturday and Sunday, the Swiss can regain the lead in the Overall classification.

In winning with an advance of over a second and a half, the charming Swiss set a new record on the Pohorje slope. The precedent was set in 1993 by France's Carole Merle, who beat Austria's Anita Wachter by 1,30 second in a giant slalom.

This is exactly the kind of result that Sonja was aiming for after missing a good opportunity at Lienz a few days after Christmas.

"I felt quite confident coming here despite my mistake from Lienz because I trained very well afterwards in Austria" she explained. "I found back a excellent rhythm so I was not concerned at all coming here. Beside this, I adore this place and this race. It's an exciting competition, the course is mostly well prepared and it suits perfectly to my style".

"It's here that I reached my first podium in a World Cup race, back in 1996, and since then, I often finished on the podium before winning the giant slalom last winter".

First podium for Maze

Also quite pleased by today's race where Tina Maze and Stina Hofgard-Nilsen who both reached their first podium in a World Cup race.

Maze was particularly happy since it happens in front of her fans.

"I was fighting for this since my first World Cup season in the year 2000 and it's great that I reached this goal here in front of my friends" said the charming Maze who will turn 19 next May. A talented skier in several specialties, Maze can now aim for an Olympic medal at Salt Lake City.

In tomorrow's slalom, Anja Paerson is again the skier to beat. A double winner in Sestriere and Lienz last December, the Sweden is quite confident for the moment. She has also the chance to play a main role in this year's Overall World Cup.

Croatia's Janica Kostelic, who will try to celebrate her 20th birthday with a good result.Many of her fans should attend the next two slaloms - it may help her to be more inspired and more determined.