Marc's miracle at home

The 23-year-old from St Moritz had been a huge 2.76 seconds behind first-leg leader Markus Larsson of Sweden but benefited from his early start to post a blistering time in the second run.

On a course made increasingly difficult by soggy conditions and deteriorating visibility, the 26 skiers who followed Berthod all failed to match his performance, with Larsson himself dropping down to fifth place, 0.55 seconds behind the Swiss.

Defending overall World Cup champion Benjamin Raich held on to second place after throwing away a 2.71-second advantage over Berthod.

The Austrian, who won Saturday's giant slalom race here, eventually crossed the line 0.26 seconds off Berthod's pace.

Raich's compatriot Mario Matt took third place, a further 0.12 seconds back.

"This is crazy," Berthod shouted above the loud celebrations of the local fans in the finish area.

"My goal this morning was just to score some points because I knew it would be an achievement just to qualify for the second run.

"I knew of course that it was an advantage to start early in these conditions but I never thought I could win because there was such a big gap between me and the favourites."

Berthod had qualified for the second run of a World Cup slalom race on just four previous occasions, finishing only twice -- in 16th and 20th place.

As well as completing an incredible day for Berthod himself, Sunday's victory was a massive boost for the Swiss ski team who had gone nearly three years without a win on the men's World Cup circuit.

Didier Cuche was the last Swiss man to celebrate a World Cup victory when he won a downhill race in Garmisch, Germany, on Jan. 30, 2004.

"It's so important for the team because we've been waiting so long for this," Berthod said. "We've also struggled in slalom in recent seasons so this is really very special."

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal held on to the overall World Cup lead despite failing to finish the first leg.

American former overall champion Bode Miller, who was 11th after the first leg, lost his right ski on the second run.