Proving she is still in top form despite the poor season-opener in Austria's Sölden, Maze finished 1.61 seconds behind the winner Mikaela Shiffrin of the US (1:55.07).

Coming second was Germany's Maria Höfl Riesch (+1.06).

In the first run, Maze clocked a 0.52-second gap to the winner Shiffrin to place 2nd.

"Third place is a great start to the rest of the season," said Maze, adding that given her bad start of the season she felt much better already after today's first run.

She explained the wind during the first race was holding her somewhat back, so she believes her skiing is in fact almost as good as last year.

While this is her 53rd World Cup podium result, Maze won eleven races in all five disciplines and secured 24 podium finishes in the record-breaking 2012/2013 season.