The World Cup Ski season is headed into the stretch, and it looks to be a fantastic run to the finish. Bode Miller answered Stephan Eberharter's challenge, placing second in the slalom to retake the overall points lead from the Austrian superstar. Croatia's Ivica Kostelic won his 3rd consecutive slalom in a time of 1:40.03. Miller finished in 1:49.43 and Hans Petter Buraas of Norway was 3rd in 1:49.64.

Miller grabbed the overall points lead last week, when he won the Giant Slalom at Kranjska Gora for his second Cup victory of the year. Eberharter, who held a commanding lead after winning four of his first five races this year, only to lose several weeks to a knee injury suffered at Val d'Isere, won Saturday's downhill but did not compete in the slalom.

Kostelic, third in the first run, finished with a two-run time of 1:49.03, then watched as first-run runnerup Jean-Pierre Vidal of France, the Olympic champion, skied out and Finland's Kalle Palander, a former world champion but still chasing his first World Cup win, had problems and dropped to fifth place.

Miller, amazingly without a SL point after the first three races, skied under control and was ninth in the first run. He ripped through the second run with the fastest time and finished in 1:49.43, seemingly resuming the duels he and Kostelic had a year ago as they each won three SLs and finished 1-2 in the points.

"It was very exciting," said U.S. men's SL/GS Head Coach Martin Andersen. "Bode did what he came here to do. He made the first run very mellow, didn't push in one turn, just skied it. He was a second [1.05] out and then he'd said he'd go for it in the second run and he did – and it was freakin' nerve-wracking.

"He'd said he'd go for it in the second run and he did – and it was freakin' nerve-wracking. He was all over the place..." —U.S. coach Martin Anderen, on Bode Miller

"He was all over the place in real Bode style…but he pulled it off," the coach said.

Reflecting on Miller's slalom drought after the first three races of the winter, Andersen said, "Second is good. It's a joke he had no points. The guy is the fastest guy out there and everybody knows it. We just need all the details. Everybody in Kranjska Gora knew it this week after he won that Europa Cup slalom by 1.8 seconds [Monday]. People there couldn't believe what they saw. So, now he's rolling and that's good."

Andersen said the U.S. men trained with Kostelic and the Croatians for two days during the week. "The second run was a little too tight for Palander – he likes more distance between the gates – but Kostelic is so solid. He doesn't make mistakes; he isn't winning runs but he's so solid. It's fun. Those guys are such hard workers…" Coincidentally, women's World Cup leader Janica Kostelic, with a weekend off because of no races, was a fore-runner Sunday.

Schlopy had a strong second run after being 21st in the morning run – "he's on a roll in both slalom and GS," according to Andersen. "And Chip made a big mistake on his second run he kept it rolling and moved back inside the top 20; he's scored in every slalom so far."

Miller leads the overall standings with 690 points and Austrian Stephan Eberharter, who reclaimed the lead Saturday by winning his fourth downhill of the season, is second at 655; he seldom skis slalom and he sat out Sunday's race. Miller and Eberharter meet again Tuesday in Adelboden, Switzerland, and next weekend in Wengen with two DHs, a slalom and combined calculation.

Andersen said the word in Bormio was that former Olympic and World Cup champion Hermann Maier of Austria, out since a motorcycle crash in August 2001, is expected to return Tuesday in Adelboden. Austrians would not confirm the report.

— Courtesy U.S. Ski Team with additional material from MountainZone.com Staff