World Cup Skiing : Pramotton Leads Italians to a Giant Slalom Sweep

Richard Pramotton won his second consecutive World Cup giant slalom race Sunday, leading the Italian team to a 1-2-3 sweep on their home track at La Villa, Italy.

Alberto Tomba finished second in 2:45.49 for his best World Cup showing. First-leg leader Oswald Toetsch held on for third in 2:45.54.

Swedish veteran Ingemar Stenmark finished fourth, skiing the fastest second heat and improving 12 places from the first run, on the same course that he had scored his 80th World Cup victory last year.

Switzerland’s Pirmin Zurbriggen and Austrian-born Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, the heavy favorites for overall victory, failed to gain any World Cup points.

Zurbriggen fell and dropped out in the first heat, and Girardelli was 27th and next to last.

Zurbriggen still held the overall lead with 85 points. West Germany’s Markus Wasmeier, who was 15th Sunday, is second with 78 points, and Pramotton is third with 73.

Maria Walliser of Switzerland capped an exceptional weekend of racing with a victory in a women’s super giant slalom that gave her a commanding lead in the World Cup standings.

Walliser, 23, fought through two inches of fresh snow and a light snowfall at Val d’Isere, France, to beat Catherine Quittet of France by 15 hundredths of a second. Vreni Schneider of Switzerland was third.

Walliser, the defending World Cup overall and downhill champion, finished second to Michela Figini in a downhill Friday on the Oreiller-Killy course and second again Saturday to Canada’s Laurie Graham in another downhill race.

Walliser leads World Cup overall standings with 85 points. Schneider moved up to second place with 61 points, and Quittet and Switzerland’s Erika Hess were tied for third place with 51 points.

Ernst Vettori of Austria soared 285 feet 5 inches on his final jump to win the 70-meter World Cup ski jumping championship at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Vettori, who jumped 301-10 on his first attempt to take the first-round lead, finished with 241.2 points. Yugoslavia’s Primoz Ulaga finished second with 233.7 points, and Vegaard Opaas of Norway was third with 229.8 points.