Germany's Emma Aicher eased to her first-ever slalom World Cup victory in Levi on Saturday to underline her status as one of the favourites for the overall title this season.
Aicher, who finished second to Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall standings last term, posted a combined time of one minute and 52.62 seconds to beat Albanian teenager Lara Colturi by 0.43secs.
"It's definitely a great birthday present," the German said, the day after her 23rd birthday.
"And my family travelled all the way here to see me, so it's wonderful to perform well while they're here."
It was Aicher's sixth World Cup win but first-ever in a technical event, backing up her maiden giant slalom podium in the season-opener in Soelden last month.
Shiffrin opted not to race Saturday and the American star has said she is going to focus more on the giant slalom and super-G this season, despite 73 of her 110 World Cup victories having come in slalom.
Aicher, who has three career super-G wins and two in downhill, laid down a marker with an impressive display.
She led after an excellent first run of 55.74secs, then extended her advantage over Colturi by clocking the sixth-quickest time in the second run, despite being the last racer to tackle the course.
It was the first time the women's slalom at the Lapland resort was not won by either Shiffrin or Petra Vlhova since Slovanian Tina Maze's success in 2014.
The 19-year-old Colturi, who also finished second in Soelden, now has nine World Cup podiums but is still waiting for her breakthrough win.
Austrian Katharina Truppe was third -- her first top-three finish since January.
Vlhova, Shiffrin's long-time slalom rival, was only 16th.
The Slovakian, who has 31 World Cup wins, returned to the circuit in Soelden for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury in January 2024.
The men take centre stage on Sunday in Levi, with their first slalom race of the campaign.
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