Frederic Covili of France, who never had been on a podium before this season, won the season opener in October and that win stood all winter as he took the men's World Cup overall giant slalom title Sunday.

Swiss GS great Michael Von Gruenigen won the race at these World Cup Finals and Covili was 5th, enough to capture the crystal globe at the last race of the season.

A day after a nearly epic duel with Croatian Ivica Kostelic for the slalom title, Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) struggled midway through his second run and finished 18th while Dane Spencer (Boise, ID) had the third-fastest second run and moved up to 20th place.

"I knew I had to have a really fast second run," Miller said. "I made some awesome turns up there -- just really awesome turns. But I went on my side twice trying to pull a radius I just couldn't pull. I was just coming in way too tight to pull it off.

"I have no regrets. It was a great race. But in watching the last racers, the way things turned out, I could have done well here."

Still, he said, "The season was awesome and I can't wait for next year."

"Bode was flying on that second run, but he went a little too direct on a rhythm change and drove out of the course, then got back in, but it cost him," said Head GS/SL Coach Jesse Hunt. "And Dane had an outstanding second run, which is a nice way to end his season, especially coming back from injury [right knee, torn ligaments]; it was quite a season for him.

"It was warm again and conditions were bumpy with flat light in the morning but it was better in the second run. The last course held up for everyone," Hunt said.

Miller finished the season 4th overall – the best U.S. men's result since Phil Mahre won the 1983 overall title, was 2nd in slalom, the best since Mahre won the World Cup slalom title in 1982, and was 7th in GS.

Von Gruenigen had a two-run time of 2:41.12 to overtake first-run leader Benjamin Raich of Austria by .13. Third place went to Stephan Eberharter, who also had been in the mix for the GS championship. If he'd won, it would have been the fourth World Cup title for the popular Austrian who earlier took the men's overall, downhill and super G crowns.

The U.S. men are back on US soil for the Chevy Truck U.S. Alpine Championships March 14-19 in Lake Tahoe, with downhill, super G and GS (plus the Return of the Champions March 17, honoring the 1960 Olympic Ski Team) at Squaw Valley and slalom March 18 at Sugar Bowl Resort.

— Courtesy US Ski Team