Adelboden: Raich snaps slump, wins GS

By Published On: January 6th, 2007Comments Off on Adelboden: Raich snaps slump, wins GS


Olympic and World Cup discipline champion Benjamin Raich recorded his first World Cup giant slalom victory this season Saturday, besting Italy's Massimiliano Blardone and Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal. The Austrian had an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 25.29 seconds on his two runs on the Kuonisbaergli course. Blardone clocked 2:26.14 and Svindal finished in 2:26.29. Bode Miller skied out in the first run, while Ted Ligety placed 17th on the day.


ADELBODEN, Switzerland — Olympic and World Cup discipline champion Benjamin Raich recorded his first World Cup giant slalom victory this season Saturday, besting Italy's Massimiliano Blardone and Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal.
    The Austrian had an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 25.29 seconds on his two runs on the Kuonisbaergli course. Blardone clocked 2:26.14 and Svindal finished in 2:26.29.
    Bode Miller skied out in the first run, while Ted Ligety placed 17th on the day.
    "Today was a bit of a beating, no question. We should have done better, a lot better," U.S. men's head coach Phil McNichol said. "To crap out like this in the last GS before worlds [Feb. 3-18 in Are, Sweden] was unfortunate. We needed to get something done and we just didn't do it."
    A midrace bobble cost Ligety after he had a mistake at the top of his second run, McNichol said. "Today was about start numbers; only five guys got into the second run from outside the first 30 … and that was because Bode went out and [Austrian Rainer] Schoenfelder and [Austrian Mario] Matt, and a couple of others. Jimmy [Cochran] skied pretty well, but he was coming out of 50th start, so he didn't have much of a chance, but he gave it a good effort, as usual."
    Miller was fast up top but appeared to misjudge the way the slope fell away from him, dropping onto his side and veering off-course. Miller skidded through the first interval with a tiny 0.06 deficit, though the more demanding parts of the course lay below.
    "We have to turn this around tomorrow [in slalom]. This was a kick in the gut," McNichol said.
    The men race slalom Sunday and then move to Wengen, Switzerland, for three days of racing, starting Friday and including the 77th Lauberhorn downhill.
    Raich previously had just one top-three result this season, a victory in the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland
    ''I was a little nervous at the start of the second leg but just enough to keep me on my toes,'' said Raich, who was leading after the first run. ''It's great to win here again. It was really tough, especially on a long and difficult course like this one.''
    Raich won the notoriously tough Adelboden giant slalom here last season.
    Raich — the only Austrian to record a top-three result in a technical discipline this season — is in danger of losing his World Cup overall and giant slalom titles to Svindal, who leads in both.
    ''I've never been fast in Adelboden, so I didn't think I'd be able to keep the leader's jersey,'' said Svindal, whose best career result on this slope was a 15th place in 2004. ''But I still have it.''


THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee 

Equipment
Men's giant slalom, Adelboden, Switzerland, Jan. 6, 2007

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Blardone, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Palander, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5 Chenal, Dynastar/Lange/Look
6 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
7 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
8 Simoncelli, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Fanara, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

Men's GS Adelboden, Switzerland, Jan. 6, 2007. … It is the 17th race of the men's 38-event World Cup schedule. … It is the fourth of seven scheduled giant slaloms. … Fourth of six remaining on the schedule. … It is the 37th men's World Cup GS held at Adelboden.
    It is the 25th career win for Benjamin Raich. … He ties Michaela Dorfmeister for sixth on the all-time Austrian win list. … It is his 10th career GS win. … It is his second consecutive GS win at Adelboden, having claimed the win Jan. 7, 2006. … It is his second win of the season, having also won the opening slalom at Levi Nov. 12. … It is the 14th Austrian win of the season. … The fourth for men.
    It is the 10th career podium for Massimiliano Blardone, all in GS. … It is his seventh career second-place finish. … He finished second at Adelboden Feb. 7, 2004 and won at Adelboden Jan 11, 2005. … It marks the fourth time he has finished second to Raich (Flachau Jan. 3, 2004, Kranjska Gora Dec. 21, 2005, Are March 17, 2006, and Adelboden Jan. 6).
    It is the 10th career podium for Aksel Lund Svindal. … His fourth in GS. … His first at Adelboden, where his previous best had been 15th (2004). … It is his fourth podium of the season and third of the season in GS. … He previously won at Hinterstoder and was second at Beaver Creek. … He has scored in 16 of the 17 men's races held this season.
    John Kucera matches his fourth-best career result in 12th. … He has been better three times this season. … It is his second-best career GS result after fifth at Alta Badia Dec. 17. … It is the 26th-best career result for Ted Ligety. … His eighth-best in GS. … He was 13th in GS at Adelboden last season, which had stood as his worst completed GS placing. … It was the fifth career DNF at Adelboden for Bode Miller.
    Aksel Svindal extends his lead in the overall standings to 639-571 over Didier Cuche (seventh in race). … Bode Miller sits third in the overall rankings at 540. … Svindal also leads the GS rankings 266-246 over Kalle Palander (fourth in race). … Massimiliano Blardone is third on the list with 240. … Miller leads the U.S. skiers in sixth with 152. … Winning margin in .85 of a second, third is exactly a second back. … Top 10 are within two seconds. … With three skiers in the top 10 Italy leads the men's GS standings in Nations Cup and sits second to Austria in men's overall standings. 

Adelboden men's World Cup GS results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
 1  3  50625 RAICH Benjamin  1978  AUT   1:13.06  1:12.23  2:25.29  0.00
 2  5  292000 BLARDONE Massimiliano  1979  ITA   1:13.24  1:12.90  2:26.14  5.15
 3  4  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund  1982  NOR   1:13.68  1:12.61  2:26.29  6.06
 4  1  180251 PALANDER Kalle  1977  FIN   1:13.28  1:13.17  2:26.45  7.03
 5  10  190677 CHENAL Joel  1973  FRA   1:14.27  1:12.24  2:26.51  7.39
 6  21  292491 MOELGG Manfred  1982  ITA   1:15.02  1:11.79  2:26.81  9.21
 7  8  510030 CUCHE Didier  1974  SUI   1:13.88  1:13.00  2:26.88  9.63
 8  2  292120 SIMONCELLI Davide  1979  ITA   1:13.95  1:13.04  2:26.99  10.30
 9  12  510727 DEFAGO Didier  1977  SUI   1:14.80  1:12.38  2:27.18  11.45
 10  20  191750 FANARA Thomas  1981  FRA   1:14.99  1:12.28  2:27.27  11.99
 11  28  560406 GORZA Ales  1980  SLO   1:15.13  1:12.29  2:27.42  12.90
 12  25  102873 KUCERA John  1984  CAN   1:14.85  1:12.59  2:27.44  13.02
 13  19  50742 REICHELT
Hannes
 
1980  AUT   1:15.25  1:12.30  2:27.55  13.69
 14  15  292250 SCHIEPPATI Alberto  1981  ITA   1:15.00  1:12.59  2:27.59  13.93
 15  11  50423 MAIER Hermann  1972  AUT   1:14.22  1:13.40  2:27.62  14.11
 16  24  510993 ALBRECHT Daniel  1983  SUI   1:14.77  1:12.88  2:27.65  14.29
 17  14  534562 LIGETY Ted  1984  USA   1:14.52  1:13.16  2:27.68  14.48
 18  16  350032 BUECHEL Marco  1971  LIE   1:15.02  1:12.78  2:27.80  15.20
 19  26  192506 MISSILLIER Steve  1984  FRA   1:15.92  1:11.90  2:27.82  15.32
 20  7  102814 BOURQUE Francois  1984  CAN   1:14.05  1:13.80  2:27.85  15.51
 21  17  50451 GRUBER Christoph  1976  AUT   1:14.56  1:13.35  2:27.91  15.87
 22  34  51005 SCHEIBER Mario  1983  AUT   1:16.37  1:11.68  2:28.05  16.72
 23  31  50041 WALCHHOFER Michael  1975  AUT   1:15.48  1:12.59  2:28.07  16.84
 24  32  500656 LARSSON Markus  1979  SWE   1:16.04  1:12.72  2:28.76  21.02
 25  18  292455 FILL Peter  1982  ITA   1:15.81  1:13.55  2:29.36  24.65


 

Did not start 1st run:
LONGHI Omar (ITA)

Did not finish 1st run:
BJOERGVINSSON Bjoergvin (ISL), MYHRER Andre (SWE), VALENCIC Mitja (SLO), NILSEN Andreas (NOR), RAINER Niklas (SWE), MATT Mario (AUT), MILLER Bode (USA)

Did not finish 2nd run:
LANZINGER Matthias (AUT), DEFLORIAN Mirko (ITA), BERTHOD Marc (SUI), BECHTER Patrick (AUT), GRANDI Thomas (CAN)

Disqualified 1st run:
SCHOENFELDER Rainer (AUT)

Did not qualify 1st run:
KARLSEN Truls Ove (NOR), SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG), BAXTER Noel (GBR), JANYK Michael (CAN), RICHARD Cyprien (FRA), ROTHROCK Tom (USA), MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas (FRA), COVILI Frederic (FRA), COCHRAN Jimmy (USA), PITTSCHIELER Kurt (ITA), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE), GINI Marc (SUI), DE TESSIERES Gauthier (FRA), BANK Ondrej (CZE), VAJDIC Bernard (SLO), LANNING Thomas (tj) (USA), SANDELL Marcus (FIN), JANKA Carlo (SUI), GUFLER Michael (ITA), RAJALA Jukka (FIN), EISATH Florian (ITA), GUAY Erik (CAN), ROBERTO Alessandro (ITA), NEUREUTHER Felix (GER)


Men's GS standings (after 4 of 7 races)
1. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 266.
2. Kalle Palander, Finland, 246.
3. Massimiliano Blardone, Italy, 240.
4. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 219.
5. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 163.
6. Bode Miller, United States, 152.
7. Ted Ligety, United States, 136.
8. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 133.
(tie) Francois Bourque, Canada, 133.
10. Davide Simoncelli, Italy, 104.
11. Joel Chenal, France, 92.
12. Hermann Maier, Austria, 86.
13. Rainer Schoenfelder, Austria, 72.
(tie) Alberto Schieppati, Italy, 72.
15. John Kucera, Canada, 67.
(tie) Manfred Moelgg, Italy, 67.

Men's overall standings (after 17 of 38 races)
1. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 639.
2. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 571.
3. Bode Miller, United States, 540.
4. Peter Fill, Italy, 464.
5. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 378.
6. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 348.
7. Kalle Palander, Finland, 337.
8. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 326.
9. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 308.
10. Ted Ligety, United States, 292.
11. Hermann Maier, Austria, 287.
12. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 283.
13. John Kucera, Canada, 275.
14. Steven Nyman, United States, 260.
15. Massimiliano Blardone, Italy, 240.

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