Switzerland's Sonja Nef crashed out of the Copper Mountain World Cup slalom in Colorado on Thursday.

Nef failed to reach the finish line after posting the second time on the first run, behind France's Laure Pequenot.The Swiss didn't seem particularly concerned about her elimination though.

"I had more slalom practice than for giant slalom this summer in New Zealand and later on glaciers closer to home," said Nef. "If I can ski up to my usual standard, I'm sure I'll be up front to in the slalom."

After the initial run, she was just one quarter of a second behind the Frenchwoman, but last year's Copper Mountain winner, Christel Pascal-Saïoni, was breathing down the Swiss skiers' neck.

With snow falling heavily on the course, Pequenot won her first World Cup race in front of two Austrians, Christine Sponring and Carina Raich.

Nef's fall comes one day after her third place in the giant slalom in the same resort. The skier, who won the World Cup in that event last season with six wins in eight races, had vowed to do better.

Best Swiss on the day was Marlies Oester, who finally finished 12th, nearly two seconds off the pace, but still with the fourth-fastest time on the second run. This was her best result in over four years, confirming her third place finish in a Nor-Am race the previous week.

Corina Grünenfelder was eliminated on the first run.

After three races, Nef leads the World cup overall standings with 140 points, all earned with her second and third places in giant slalom events.

swissinfo with agencies

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