Linus Straßer lifted his skis and roared his joy into the dark night sky.

"Yessssssssssss" was the message from the Planai finish area when the 29-year-old ski racer from TSV 1860 Munich triumphed at the World Cup in Schladming on Tuesday and was crowned the first German winner of the night classic.

"It's just great," said Straßer after the third World Cup victory of his career in BR.

He had previously only won the slalom in Zagreb last year and the City Event 2017 in Stockholm.

After recent mixed performances, the technician made a big exclamation mark shortly before the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th) and gave the German Ski Association its first victory of the season.

The long-awaited "hit" that national coach Christian Schwaiger had called for was finally here.

"It's a bit surprising, but we won a ski classic," said Alpine Director Wolfgang Maier on behalf of the German Ski Association (DSV).

"He messed up many races in the past because he was too impetuous or too wild." This time Straßer was simply stable and consistent from top to bottom, said Maier.

With fifth place in the first round, Straßer had secured a good starting position for the final of the top 30.

When the leading duo, Kristoffer Jakobsen and Giuliano Razzoli, finally threw things in, there was no denying Munich's success shortly before the big highlight of the season in China.

Strasser reported afterwards that he only had himself, his skiing and his run on his mind.

"Simply cool," the slalom expert described his emotional state.

In the end, the lead over Norwegian Atle Lie Mcgrath was only three hundredths of a second.

Third was Manuel Feller from Austria, who fought his way onto the podium from 28th place.

Straßer's sensational victory outshined an otherwise disappointing day from a German perspective.

Julian Rauchfuss and Alex Schmid, who also start in Beijing, dropped out after driving errors, as did Fabian Himmelsbach and Anton Tremmel.

Although David Ketterer crossed the finish line, he was too slow for the second round.