Croatian Ljutic races to top of World Cup ski standings

Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutic has snatched her second World Cup win with a nerveless performance in a slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Ljutic, who now tops the overall and discipline standings, was joint-first with Swiss Wendy Holdener after the first leg with exactly the same time wearing bibs 1 and 2.

Holdener put up a strong-looking time on the second run but Ljutic, the last to go, produced the best ski of the day for a combined time of 1 minute 39.62 seconds.

The 20-year-old edged out the more experienced Holdener by 0.16 seconds. Anna Swenn Larsson, of Sweden, was a distant third, 1.19 seconds back.

Ljutic also won the slalom in Semmering last month for her maiden World Cup success and looks like a challenger for years to come.

Sweden's Sara Hector, who dominated the giant slalom on Saturday, finished sixth.

Defending overall champion Lara Gut-Behrami was absent while US great Mikaela Shiffrin was also missing after suffering a severe puncture wound in November.

The men are not in action this weekend and return with a slalom in Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday.