Croatian Kostelic wins Wengen super-combined

Croatian Ivica Kostelic called on all his slalom expertise to win the men's World Cup super-combined here on Friday, his 21st victory on the circuit and his fifth at the Swiss resort. The Croat clocked a combined time of 2min 42.16sec over the downhill and slalom, finishing 0.20sec ahead of home favourite Beat Feuz - leader after the downhill, with American veteran Bode Miller completing the podium at 0.45sec. It was a fine result for Kostelic, the reigning World Cup slalom and overall champion who was only 23rd after the opening downhill. "I'm sure nobody would have bet a penny on me after the downhill!" joked Kostelic. "I lost a lot of time on the flat parts. "I wasn't expecting to win. I thought three seconds off the pace would be impossible to claw back. "I won in the same manner last year in Chamonix, but in Chamonix the slalom is long, it lasts more than one minute. Today was one of the best slalom races." Feuz, a sensation this season, was left happy with his podium showing. "It's incredible what I've done," he beamed. "I knew that the key was the downhill time. And the downhill went so well. "But I made a little mistake at the end of the slalom that cost me victory. "I don't know if I can again do something tomorrow in the downhill but there's not a lot to change." Miller called his day "frustrating". "It went well in the downhill but in fact I couldn't find the speed I wanted," he said. "The slalom was horrible! I made some big mistakes right from the start. It was a very, very bad day," Miller added, tapping Feuz as "unbeatable" if he were to keep his form in Saturday's downhill. After the downhill, racing continues with a slalom on Sunday.