Icy winds plagued riders during the qualification runs of today's parallel slalom and heavy snowfalls nearly put a halt to the final rounds, but gatekeepers worked continuously to keep the slope in good shape. Despite the adverse conditions, French racer Matthieu Bozzetto pulled off another win — his second in as many days — while Austrian Manuela Riegler beat American Rosey Fletcher in the final round of today's duel.

	Men's Podium

"This was really a tough day," said Bozzetto, "with hard snow and icy parts at some gates."

Bozzetto, a NOKIA team rider, and his French teammate Nicolas Huet appeared as top rivals in many parallel races last year, and faced each other for the first time this season in today's final head-to-head duels. With Huet dropping out in both runs, it was Bozzetto who finally added another win to his score.

"It was hard for me to stay on the board, especially with a total of 18 runs out of two races in my legs. I was really tired and Nico felt the same way, with exactly the same number of runs yesterday and today. It was just great that we raced each other this time and it is a shame that he fell in both runs."

Huet had looked pretty safe throughout the competition, but faltered when he had the chance to grab the gold. "I wanted the two of us to be in the finals today," he said, "it worked so well just until I met him. After he had taken the lead in the first run I tried to catch him up but when I crashed at the third gate I also lost the morale to close the gap. It would have definitely been easier to do so if it wasn't Matthieu.

"It was hard for me to stay on the board, especially with a total of 18 runs out of two races in my legs...." — Matthieu Bozzetto, winner

"The slope was perfect for me and the conditions did not bother me too much. I am quite confident in slalom: 2nd, 3rd and 4th place so far, there is nothing for me to fear," Huet added.

With US rider Anton Pogue beating Sweden's Stephen Copp in the duel for 3rd place, another NOKIA team rider made it to the podium today. "I do not know how this worked today because by no means was I dominating every run," said Pogue, "but that is the nature of parallel and I am happy that I was able to get on the podium again. I was biting my nails a few times but really enjoyed this hill, it was firm and so it was just nice."

Bozzetto will continue wearing the yellow leader bib in the Parallel World Cup, while Huet remains in 2nd. Felix Stadler from Austria, who missed the quarter-finals today, dropped back to 4th while Copp moved up to 3rd place again.

	Riegler

First Win for Riegler in a Year
NOKIA team rider Manuela Riegler (AUT) faced American Rosey Fletcher in the final duel of the women's race. Riegler was ahead by just 13 hundredths of a second after the first run and claimed the win after Fletcher dropped out in the second run. "This has not happen to me for more than one year," said Riegler, smiling. "I needed a lot of patience but it had to become true one day. I rode pretty safe today, got down all the runs, which did not happen very often over the past year. And there was this little piece of luck you always need in parallel racing, also. It was not easy to get the right rhythm, I am really happy."

France's Isabelle Blanc raced Marion Posch from Italy for 3rd place and made it to the podium. She also keeps the lead in the parallel standings, in which Riegler is now 2nd and Fletcher is 3rd.

A halfpipe contest under floodlights is scheduled for tomorrow.

—Britta Semmler, MountainZone.com Correspondent