Vlhova, Shiffrin miss medal podium in women's slalom, won by Austria's Liensberger

Austrian skier Katharina Liensberger won the penultimate women's World Cup slalom Saturday as pre-race favourites Petra Vlhova and Mikaela Shiffrin both failed to make the podium.

Vlhova was second after the opening run but dropped to fourth, while Shiffrin lost five positions in the final run and finished ninth in Are, Sweden.

The American will take a 56-point lead over her Slovakian rival in the overall standings into the World Cup Finals in France next week, which features one race in each of the four disciplines.

Shiffrin is chasing her fourth overall title; Vlhova won her maiden title last season.

Vlhova had won five of the previous seven slaloms this season and had already locked up the slalom title; Shiffrin won the other two events.

Mina Furst Holtmann (1:46.34) was 0.16 seconds behind in second for her third career podium but first in slalom. Michelle Gisin (1:46.41) improved from sixth to place third, trailing Liensberger by 0.23.

Gisin's Swiss teammate Wendy Holdener skipped the race, a day after crashing in a giant slalom.

Toronto's Ali Nullmeyer led a group of four Canadians, clocking 1:47.53. Amelia Smart of Invermere, B.C., Laurence St-Germain of St. Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., and Erin Mielzynski of Collingwood, Ont., followed in 16th, 20th and 28th, respectively.

Lena Durr was fastest in the opening run, leading a tight group of six skiers that also included Vlhova and Shiffrin. But the German posted only the 22nd-fastest time in the final run and finished in fifth, 0.34 seconds behind Liensberger.

Durr was aiming to become the first German winner of a women's slalom in nearly 10 years, after Maria Hofl Riesch triumphed in Levi in November 2012.

Durr also led the Olympic slalom race in Beijing after the