Adelboden: Raich claims win and tour lead

By Published On: January 10th, 2009Comments Off on Adelboden: Raich claims win and tour lead

Austria’s Benjamin Raich put his tenacity on display in controlling the toughest giant slalom on the World Cup schedule at Adelboden Switzerland Saturday, and helping push the home standing Swiss off the podium.

Raich vaulted into the lead of the World Cup overall standings moving past Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange and Norway’s Aksel Svindal. Raich also holds the lead of the GS standings over Ligety.

Italian Massimiliano Blardone took second on the day and Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud recorded a fantasic second run to move into third. That left Sandro Viletta, skiing from the 53rd start position, to gain the top Swiss placing in fourth on the hill every Swiss child dreams of conquering.Austria’s Benjamin Raich put his tenacity on display in controlling the toughest giant slalom on the World Cup schedule at Adelboden Switzerland Saturday, and helping push the home standing Swiss off the podium.

Raich vaulted into the lead of the World Cup overall standings moving past Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange and Norway’s Aksel Svindal. Raich also holds the lead of the GS standings over Ligety.

Italian Massimiliano Blardone took second on the day and Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud recorded a fantasic second run to move into third. That left Sandro Viletta, skiing from the 53rd start position, to gain the top Swiss placing in fourth on the hill every Swiss child dreams of conquering.

Ted Ligety, with a poor opening run, closed well to finish ninth and Jake Zamansky got his second career scoring finish in 27th. Bode Miller and Jimmy Cochran both fell victim to the steep Kuonisbaergli course in the first run.

“It was incredible that Ted even made the final after the mistake he had in the first run,” said Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “He basically made a pit stop then threw down the hammer to get in there. In the second run, he skied the middle and bottom well but was too conservative on the top. Skiing from 28th to ninth is good, but it’s not a reflection of how fast Ted can ski.”

With thousands of spectators lining the famous course and cheering every competitor, the day took on a surreal feel. Known for being the toughest GS course on the circuit, it was set deceptively simply, something Raich may have known a little about. His brother Florian, an Austrian coach, set the first run.

“Just set it simple, like in training,” Raich told his brother, according to Austrian press reports. “It is an extremely difficult course and that’s good for me.”

It definitely was tough, despite an easier course set. It’s an old-school hill, more pasture than ski trail. It is steep and falls away to the sides. It undulates the entire length and, as Ligety says “is basically a freefall to the finish.”

It also is a Swiss tradition that pre-dates the World Cup by nearly a decade and every Swiss spectator out there was ready to remind their team how important it is to the country.

“This year is the craziest I’ve ever seen by far,” said Ligety. “This race could easily rival Schladming if it keeps going like this. There were fans all the way up the right side of the course and they cheer loud and hard for everyone, but it’s several decibels higher for the Swiss guys.”

They didn’t get what they wanted to cheer about as favorite Swiss akiers dropped back down the finish order. The exception was Viletta. He advanced from the 53rd start to finish 25th in the first run, then poured it on, with the fastest second run to advance to fourth.

The GS standings, despite Raich winning, and being more than half completed, give few clues as to who might take this crown.

“I got a big gift finishing in front of (Daniel) Albrecht, (Didier) Cuche and (Aksel) Svindal,” said Ligety. “This has never been a hill that’s favored me, but I’m only 45 points shy of Benni for the GS title, so it could have been a lot worse. I’m happy to get a lucky top 10.”

Swiss Daniel Albrecht had been the GS standings leader coming into the race. He finished 26th and dropped from first to fifth in the standings. Cuche finished 11th and dropped from second to third.


The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men’s Giant Slalom, Adelboden, Switzerland, Jan. 10, 2009

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Blardone, Dynastar/Lange/Look
3 Jansrud, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Viletta, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
5 Richard, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Berthod, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Missillier, Dynastar/Lange/Look
8 Ploner, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Men’s Giant Slalom, Adelboden, Switzerland, Jan. 10, 2009
. … It is the 16th race of the men’s 38 race 2009 World Cup schedule. … It is the fifth of eight scheduled GS’s. … It is the 45th World Cup at Adelboden. … The 39th GS, all of them men’s races. … Bode Miller is the only American to win a World Cup at Adelboden, taking the 2002 slalom. … The race has been staged since 1958 (when it was won by Switzerland’s Roger Staub) and predates the World Cup circuit by nine years.

It is the 33rd career World Cup win for Benjamin Raich. … He is 11th all-time, both genders, and sixth among men behind Pirmin Zurbriggen’s 40 wins. … It is his 13th career GS win. … It is his third win of the season and second in GS having won the Beaver Creek GS Dec. 17 and the Val d’Isere combined Dec. 12. … It is his third win and eighth Cup podium at Adelboden having previously win in 2006 and 2007. … He matches Hermann Maier, Gustavo Thoeni and Pirmin Zurbriggen with three GS wins at the site, but still trails Ingemar Stenmark’s record five GS wins (four in consecutive seasons).

It is the 16th career World Cup podium for Massimiliano Blardone, all in GS. … It is his fourth podium at Adelboden and the third time he has finished second. … He won the 2005 GS at Adelboden. … It is his second podium of the season having also finished second in the Val d’Isere GS Dec. 13.

It is the first career World Cup podium for Kjetil Jansrud. … He has been fourth twice, both coming at Beaver Creek, in slalom Dec. 4, 2005 and earlier this season in GS Dec. 7. … His previous best at Adelboden had been eighth, but in slalom in 2006. His best GS result at the site had been 21st.

It is the 46th career World Cup top 10 for Ted Ligety. … He has finished in the top 10 in 19 of his 23 career World Cup GS scoring finishes. … It is his best GS result at Adelboden having been 13th in 2006. … He placed second in slalom on the hill the same season. … It is the second career scoring result for Jake Zamansky having previously placed 24th in GS at Alta Badia Dec. 21.

Raich takes over the World Cup overall standings 533-478 over Jean-Baptiste Grange (19th in race). … He also passed Aksel Lund Svindal, (10th in race) now in third with 470pts. … Ted Ligety moves by Bode Miller (DNF) to become the top American on the chart in 10th with 311pts. … Raich also leads the GS standings 286-241 over Ligety. … Didier Cuche (11th in race) is third at 234. … GS standings leader coming into the race, Daniel Albrecht, slid to fifth in the standings, finishing 26th in the race.


Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
 1  3  50625 RAICH Benjamin  1978  AUT   1:12.33  1:12.62  2:24.95  0.00
 2  5  292000 BLARDONE Massimiliano  1979  ITA   1:12.53  1:12.66  2:25.19  1.46
 3  24  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil  1985  NOR   1:14.19  1:11.48  2:25.67  4.37
 4  53  511352 VILETTA Sandro  1986  SUI   1:14.76  1:11.11  2:25.87  5.59
 5  15  191423 RICHARD Cyprien  1979  FRA   1:13.67  1:12.38  2:26.05  6.68
 6  8  510997 BERTHOD Marc  1983  SUI   1:13.79  1:12.46  2:26.25  7.89
 7  48  192506 MISSILLIER Steve  1984  FRA   1:14.38  1:11.89  2:26.27  8.01
 8  35  290693 PLONER Alexander  1978  ITA   1:14.67  1:11.67  2:26.34  8.44
 9  2  534562 LIGETY Ted  1984  USA   1:14.97  1:11.38  2:26.35  8.50
 10  1  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund  1982  NOR   1:13.50  1:12.87  2:26.37  8.62
 11  30  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel  1989  AUT   1:13.70  1:12.69  2:26.39  8.74
 11  6  510030 CUCHE Didier  1974  SUI   1:14.07  1:12.32  2:26.39  8.74
 13  17  50451 GRUBER Christoph  1976  AUT   1:13.12  1:13.36  2:26.48  9.29
 14  20  292455 FILL Peter  1982  ITA   1:14.33  1:12.16  2:26.49  9.35
 15  28  51007 SCHOERGHOFER Philipp  1983  AUT   1:14.60  1:11.91  2:26.51  9.47
 16  25  190677 CHENAL Joel  1973  FRA   1:14.13  1:12.44  2:26.57  9.84
 17  14  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica  1979  CRO   1:14.34  1:12.32  2:26.66  10.38
 18  26  500656 LARSSON Markus  1979  SWE   1:13.86  1:12.82  2:26.68  10.50
 19  13  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste  1984  FRA   1:13.65  1:13.07  2:26.72  10.75
 20  23  180534 SANDELL Marcus  1987  FIN   1:14.24  1:12.49  2:26.73  10.81
 21  9  292120 SIMONCELLI Davide  1979  ITA   1:14.31  1:12.44  2:26.75  10.93
 22  10  511313 JANKA Carlo  1986  SUI   1:13.78  1:13.12  2:26.90  11.84
 23  22  50600 GOERGL Stephan  1978  AUT   1:14.69  1:12.27  2:26.96  12.20
 24  27  191746 DE TESSIERES Gauthier  1981  FRA   1:14.49  1:12.64  2:27.13  13.23
 25  33  180292 LEINO Jukka  1978  FIN   1:15.06  1:12.10  2:27.16  13.42
 26  4  510993 ALBRECHT Daniel  1983  SUI   1:14.11  1:13.40  2:27.51  15.54
 27  44  533397 ZAMANSKY Jake  1981  USA   1:14.81  1:14.78  2:29.59  28.17
 28  31  293006 INNERHOFER Christof  1984  ITA   1:14.24  1:15.40  2:29.64  28.47
 29  16  510727 DEFAGO Didier  1977  SUI   1:14.78  1:16.88  2:31.66  40.74

Did not start 1st run: JANYK Michael (CAN), ROUX Christophe (MDA), SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG)

Did not finish 1st run: BYGGMARK Jens (SWE), KAUKONIEMI Tuukka (FIN), VRABLIK Martin (CZE), DIXON Robbie (CAN), GINI Marc (SUI), OLSSON Matts (SWE), COCHRAN Jimmy (USA), ROY Jean-Philippe (CAN), HEEL Werner (ITA), BAUMANN Romed (AUT), MILLER Bode (USA), REICHELT Hannes (AUT), MOELGG Manfred (ITA)

Disqualified 2nd run: MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas (FRA)

Did not qualify 1st run: STRUGER Peter (AUT), SAMSAL Dalibor (CRO), JAZBEC Janez (SLO), MARSHALL Cody (USA), NORDH Fredrik (SWE), GRANDI Thomas (CAN), PITTSCHIELER Kurt (ITA), COVILI Frederic (FRA), BECHTER Patrick (AUT), RAINER Niklas (SWE), PICHOT Sebastien (FRA), KARLSEN Truls Ove (NOR), MYHRER Andre (SWE), FREY Thomas (FRA), SCHIEPPATI Alberto (ITA), COUSINEAU Julien (CAN), VAJDIC Bernard (SLO), DOPFER Fritz (GER), KRYZL Krystof (CZE), FRISCH Jeffrey (CAN), JITLOFF Tim (USA), NOESIG Christoph (AUT), GORZA Ales (SLO), KUCERA John (CAN), FANARA Thomas (FRA)


                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   

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