Bormio: Miller takes overall; Reichelt gets SG globe

BORMIO, Italy — Hannes Reichelt of Austria won a demanding super G on the Stelvio course at Bormio on Thursday by one hundredth of a second, and in the process overhauled Switzerland’s Didier Cuche to capture the super G globe by a single point.
    American Bode Miller was assured of his second overall World Cup title when the Swiss team announced that Cuche, the only skier mathematically able to catch Miller with just two races remaining, would not race in the slalom here at the World Cup Finals. Miller had previously won the overall globe in 2005.
    On Thursday, both Miller and Cuche were more than a second behind the winner in the season's final super G, Miller in 12th and Cuche in 16th, just out of the points, which at the World Cup Finals go only to the top 15 finishers. Had Cuche finished 15th, he would have won the super G title.

BORMIO, Italy — Hannes Reichelt of Austria won a demanding super G on the Stelvio course at Bormio on Thursday by one hundredth of a second, and in the process overhauled Switzerland’s Didier Cuche to capture the super G globe by a single point.
    American Bode Miller was assured of the overall World Cup title when Swiss team spokesperson Kristina Schneider said that Cuche, the only skier mathematically able to catch Miller with just two races remaining, would not race in the slalom here at the World Cup Finals. Austria’s Benjamin Raich was eliminated from overall contention despite a strong fourth-place finish Thursday in the Finals super G.
    On Thursday, both Miller and Cuche were more than a second behind the winner in the season's final super G, Miller in 12th and Cuche in 16th, just out of the points, which at the World Cup Finals go only to the top 15 finishers. Had Cuche finished 15th, he would have won the super G title.
    Miller didn’t talk to the media following the race. His personal coach, Johno McBride, who set Thursday’s course, said he was glad the title came before the final race. “I am very happy I don't have to drag this all the way to the slalom and chew my fingers off watching him try to bring home the bacon in the slalom,” McBride told the Associated Press. '”Even though I know he can, it would have really nerve-racking for me. I'm super relieved that he's done it because I think he proved he was the best overall skier this year.”
    Miller split from the U.S. team this season to train on his own. ''I am proud of the kid. We definitely had our ups and downs this season, which had lots of missed opportunities and some super inspirational moments,'' McBride told the AP.
    Cuche admitted following the race that he had tried to ski a safe run to finish in the top 15 and wrap up the globe. With a 99-point lead over Reichelt entering the season’s final race, the only scenario that could cost Cuche the globe was to finish out of points and have Reichelt win. Both things happened, and both by the narrowest of margins.
    'I wanted to use tactics,'' the 33-year-old said. ''If I had only come in 15th, you could have said that I was clever. Now I'm the idiot.''
    Said Reichelt, “Didier made a little bit too much tactic. I think I have to bring (Slovenia’s Andrej) Jerman, (Italy’s Christof) Innerhofer and (Swiss skier Daniel) Albrecht a beer because they did a nice job today.” Those three skiers, starting 24th, 25th and 26th in a race with just 27 starters, all finished ahead of Cuche, pushing him back to 16th place and giving Reichelt the globe.
    Reichelt’s winning time on the course, set by Miller’s coach Johno McBride, was 1:45.00. Didier Defago of Switzerland finished in in 1:45.01, and Ales Gorza of Slovenia, the first skier out of the start, was third in 1:45.34.
    Ted Ligety, the only other American who raced the super G, finished well off the pace after making a few big mistakes on the top half of the course. He finished the course just to get a feel for the snow, which he'll tackle Friday when he tries to nail down the giant slalom title. After seven GS races, Ligety leads in the race for the discipline globe, with 385 points, followed by Austria's Benjamin Raich (358) and local hero Manfred Moelgg of Italy (347).
    Seven of the 27 starters failed to finish, but the race course appeared to hold up reasonably well, thanks to a cold night in Bormio. The track had been judged too soft for racing earlier in the week, prompting the cancellation of both the men's and women's downhill.

The SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's Super G, Bormio, Italy, March 13, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Reichelt, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
3 Gorza, Fischer/Lange/
4 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Bourque, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
6 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
9 Maier, Head/Head/Head
10 Jerman, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
 
Men's Super G, Bormio, Italy, March 13, 2008. … It is the 38th race of the men's 41 race 2008 World Cup schedule with one race having been canceled. … It is the seventh and final super G. … It is the first race held of six scheduled for World Cup finals with the men's and women's downhills have been cancelled. … It is the second time Bormio had hosted finals having also done so in 2000. … It is the 43rd World Cup race held at Bormio, including two parallel slaloms in 1987.
    It is the fourth career World Cup win and first career World Cup title for Hannes Reichelt. … It is his third career SG win, and the second this season having also won Dec. 3 at Beaver Creek. … He also won a GS this season Feb. 23 at Whistler.
    It is the eighth career World Cup podium for Didier Defago. … the fifth in super G. … It is his first podium of the season having just missed in fourth place twice, in DH at Beaver Creek Nov. 30 and in SG at Val Gardena Dec. 14.
    It is the second career World Cup podium for Ales Gorza, both in super G and both this season. … He was also third at Whistler Feb. 21.
    It is the seventh career top five World Cup result for Francois Bourque his second best career SG placing after a third at Garmisch in 2005. … It is the 20th time Erik Guay has been in the top six of a World Cup race. … The fifth time this season. … It is his fourth best SG result of the season having been fourth at Whistler Feb. 21 and fifth at both Lake Louise Nov. 25 and Val Gar
dena Dec. 14. … It is the 26th time Bode Miller has been among the top dozen finishers of a World Cup super G. … It matched his 21st best result of the season. … It is the 21st scoring result of the season for John Kucera.
    Winning margin is .01 of a second. … Top 10 are within a second. … Top 18 within two seconds. … Bode Miller maintains the overall lead by 191 points, 1409-1218 over Didier Cuche (16th in race receives no points). … Third ranked Benjamin Raich (fourth in race) is 236 back with two races remaining and cannot overtake Miller. … Cuche will decline to race the slalom giving Miller his second overall title, one shy of the U.S. record held by Phil Mahre. … Hannes Reichelt wins the SG title 341-340 for Cuche. … Raich is third at 286. … Erik Guay is the top North American in sixth with 240. … Miller in eighth and 211pts leads U.S. skiers. … … It is the eighth time since 1998 an Austrian has won the super G title, but the first time since 2004.

Men's Super G Results
Bormio, Italy
March 13, 2008
1. Hannes Reichelt, Austria, 1:45.00.
2. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 1:45.01.
3. Ales Gorza, Slovenia, 1:45.34.
4. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 1:45.38.
5. Francois Bourque, Canada, 1:45.51.
6. Erik Guay, Canada, 1:45.55.
7. Werner Heel, Italy, 1:45.64.
8. Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 1:45.87.
9. Hermann Maier, Austria, 1:45.92.
10. Andrej Jerman, Slovenia, 1:45.97.
11. Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 1:46.00.
12. Bode Miller, United States, 1:46.01.
13. John Kucera, Canada, 1:46.18.
14. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 1:46.30.
15. Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 1:46.31.
16. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 1:46.44.
17. Rainer Schoenfelder, Austria, 1:46.65.
18. Manfred Moelgg, Italy, 1:46.67.
19. Stephan Goergl, Austria, 1:47.62.
20. Ted Ligety, United States, 1:58.66.
DNF: Andreas Sander, Germany; Ambrosi Hoffmann, Switzerland; Patrick Staudacher, Italy; Robbie Dixon, Canada; Georg Streitberger, Austria; Michael Walchhofer, Austria; Christoph Gruber, Austria