Chamonix: Miller claims combi win, leads overall
Meet the new Bode Miller. Miller, for the second time in a row, won a World Cup combined by playing it safe. After winning the Hahnemkamm trophy last weekend, Miller took the combined of the Arlberg-Kandahar at Chamonix, Sunday.
After winning the downhill leg of the super combined with a comfortable lead over the main rivals, Miller put away any pretenders with a solid, calculated slalom leg to claim the win by .45 of a second.
Limping as the result of a downhill training crash, Miller attacked the early portions of the slalom, then settled into a rhythm and brought home his 29th career win and fourth of the season. The win moved Miller into the lead for the World Cup overall title at this point in the season for the first time since 2005.
“I was not feeling the best today, my body was pretty beaten up," Miller said. "This downhill is really difficult for me to make up speed since there are no real difficult parts in the course. It was difficult to make any time on the slalom skiers/ I have been pretty unlucky here these days and it’s nice to win that competition today."
Meet the new Bode Miller. Miller, for the second time in a row, won a World Cup combined by playing it safe. After winning the Hahnemkamm trophy last weekend, Miller took the combined of the Arlberg-Kandahar at Chamonix, Sunday.
After winning the downhill leg of the super combined with a comfortable lead over the main rivals, Miller put away any pretenders with a solid, calculated slalom leg to claim the win by 0.45 of a second.
Limping as the result of a downhill training crash, Miller attacked the early portions of the slalom, then settled into a rhythm and brought home his 29th career win and fourth of the season. The win moved Miller into the lead for the World Cup overall title.
“I was not feeling the best today, my body was pretty beaten up," Miller said. "This downhill is really difficult for me to make up speed since there are no real difficult parts in the course. It was difficult to make any time on the slalom skiers/ I have been pretty unlucky here these days and it’s nice to win that competition today.
“On Thursday I had that tough landing in downhill training after that first long jump and yesterday afternoon, I suffered a bad crash while training slalom and testing a new ski,” said Miller, who previously won the Kandahar combined in 2004.
Kostelic, Schoenfelder round out podium
There were some threats to the win. Ivica Kostelic had a strong downhill run and the third fastest slalom leg of the day to finish 0.45 of a second behind Miller. Rainer Schoenfelder, who had just missed the podium in DH on Saturday, used the fourth fastest slalom run to finish third, already more than a second behind.
“This has been an awesome weekend for me, first this great downhill result yesterday and now this new podium finish in that prestigious Classic. This is wonderful,” Kostelic said. “I’m pretty excited by my slalom skiing this afternoon, I was really fast in the lower part, it a strong boost for my confidence prior the next slalom races,” added the 2003 World Champion who is looking forward for his season highlight at Zagreb in three weeks.
Two French slalom masters, Julien Lizeroux and Jean-Baptiste Grange scorched the slalom leg with identical 51.37 second times, nearly a half second ahead of the next best times, but they had been mired with huge downhill deficits and could advance no further than fifth and sixth respectively. Italian Peter Fill had the fourth best finish of the day.
"It was a good day after a couple of pretty hard crashes," said Team America coach Johno McBride. "The young fella had beat himself up pretty good."
Hard work in slalom is paying off
Miller had crashed in the first downhill training run coming off the first jump. He had sustained a contusion on his leg, stressed the muscles around his shin and tweaked his knee. After racing Saturday he fell again in slalom training. "All things considered, it was a pretty good weekend," said McBride. "He didn't finish where he wanted to in the downhill, but that was pretty understandable."
Remarkable for long time Miller viewers was his approach in the slalom leg, skiing smart, limiting the risk and collecting the win.
"Yeah, he did a great job today," said the coach, "he skied well within himself and brought home the bacon. I think what's hard to see from the outside is how hard he has been working in slalom. He's put in way more hours in slalom than any other four event skier. All that training, even though the equipment hasn't been quite right, has been productive. He's got lots of miles in."
And he's got the World Cup lead and appears to be getting stronger with a little less than half the season left. Miller moved past both Benjamin Raich and Didier Cuche to claim the lead and McBride indicates he has no intention of giving that lead away.
"We're going to keep charging," McBride said. "Hopefully we can get a little rest. But this is a nice way to leave Chamonix."
“I’ll take some rest now and try to recover," Miller said. "I must say that I’m physically in good shape because I have the possibility to entertain my form thanks to my new organization so I feel better than in past years at the same period.
“I remember three years ago when I won those six races at the season start, I had a hard time afterwards in the middle of the season. I only won another race at the end of the season. Now things look much better and I could win again in the coming weeks.”
Any rest will be short lived. The men are scheduled for a downhill training run at Val d'Isere Wednesday with another downhill and combined set for next weekend.
“I’m curious to see the course at Val d’Isère which has not been used for a while," Miller said. "I wonder how it will be possible to design a run which can somehow control our speed. The skis are much faster and efficient now than at the 1992 Olympics so it could be a challenge. We shall see.”
— Patrick Lang contributed to this story
The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men's super combined, Chamonix, France, Jan. 27, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Schoenfelder, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
5 Lizeroux, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
6 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Baumann, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
9 Albrecht, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Jerman, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
Men's super combined, Chamonix, France, Jan. 27, 2008. … It is the 27th race of the men's 41 event 2008 Worl
d Cup schedule. … It is the fourth of five scheduled combineds. … It is the final race at the Chamonix stop and part of the 60th Arlberg-Kandahar. … It is the 27th World Cup held at Chamonix and the eighth combined.
It is the 29th career World Cup win for Bode Miller. … He moves into a tie with Stephan Eberharter for seventh (among men) all time. … He is one win behind Benjamin Raich. … It is the ninth U.S. win of the season and the fourth for Miller. … It is the second win of the weekend at Chamonix with Marco Sullivan having claimed the DH… It is the 182nd U.S. World Cup win. … It is the 21st U.S. combined win and third of the season. … It is Miller's second consecutive combined win. … It is the second time Miller has won combined at Chamonix, the other coming Jan. 11, 2004. … He and Phil Mahre are the only Americans to win twice at Chamonix.
It is the 18th career World Cup podium for Ivica Kostelic. … His second of the season and his second in consecutive combineds having been third at Kitzbuehel. … It is his third career World Cup combined podium.
It is the 22nd career World Cup podium for Rainer Schoenfelder. … His fifth podium in combined with the others all coming in slalom. … He was second to Benjamin Raich in the 2006 combined at Chamonix. … It is his second podium of the season and second in consecutive combineds having placed third at Kitzbuehel.
It is the eighth scoring result of the season for Francois Bourque. … His first in combined of the season and fourth lifetime. … It is the sixth career scoring result for Paul Stutz and fifth of the season. … It is his third combined score of the season.
Winning margin is .45 of a second. … Top two are within the same second, third is 1.34 seconds out. … Top eight are within two seconds. … Top 16 within three seconds. … Bode Miller takes over the World Cup overall standings lead 967-905 for Benjamin Raich (18th in race). … Didier Cuche (27th in race) holds third at 878. … Jean-Baptiste Grange (6th in race) is fourth at 676. … Miller holds the lead of the combined standings 310-220 for Grange. … Daniel Albrecht (ninth in race) is third with 209pts. … Austria leads the men's Nations Cup 4687-2782 for Switzerland. … The U.S. is third at 2347. … Canada sixth at 1418.
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 17 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 1:41.70 | 52.88 | 2:34.58 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 19 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 1:43.18 | 51.85 | 2:35.03 | 2.91 |
| 3 | 16 | 50547 | SCHOENFELDER Rainer | 1977 | AUT | 1:43.68 | 52.24 | 2:35.92 | 8.67 |
| 4 | 13 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 1:42.96 | 53.28 | 2:36.24 | 10.74 |
| 5 | 39 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 1:44.93 | 51.37 | 2:36.30 | 11.13 |
| 6 | 20 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 1:45.03 | 51.37 | 2:36.40 | 11.77 |
| 7 | 30 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 1:44.08 | 52.34 | 2:36.42 | 11.90 |
| 8 | 18 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed& nbsp; |
1986 | AUT | 1:43.58 | 52.86 | 2:36.44 | 12.03 |
| 9 | 21 | 510993 | ALBRECHT Daniel | 1983 | SUI | 1:43.39 | 53.27 | 2:36.66 | 13.46 |
| 10 | 14 | 560332 | JERMAN Andrej | 1978 | SLO | 1:42.36 | 54.31 | 2:36.67 | 13.52 |
| 11 | 7 | 560406 | GORZA Ales | 1980 | SLO | 1:44.30 | 52.65 | 2:36.95 | 15.33 |
| 12 | 3 | 290998 | STAUDACHER Patrick | 1980 | ITA | 1:42.97 | 54.23 | 2:37.20 | 16.95 |
| 13 | 12 | 500656 | LARSSON Markus | 1979 | SWE | 1:44.93 | 52.33 | 2:37.26 | 17.34 |
| 14 | 2 | 191462 | PAQUIN Pierre | 1979 | FRA | 1:43.54 | 53.73 | 2:37.27 | 17.40 |
| 15 | 48 | 560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | 1:43.67 | 53.72 | 2:37.39 | 18.18 |
| 16 | 4 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:44.07 | 53.43 | 2:37.50 | 18.89 |
| 17 | 1 | 501026 | RAINER Niklas | 1983 | SWE | 1:43.16 | 54.46 | 2:37.62 | 19.67 |
| 18 | 22 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 1:44.83 | 52.90 | 2:37.73 | 20.38 |
| 19 | 9 | 421400 | MYHRE Lars Elton | 1984 | NOR | 1:44.28 | 53.65 | 2:37.93 | 21.67 |
| 20 | 11 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | 1:44.07 | 53.90 | 2:37.97 | 21.93 |
| 21 | 36 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 1:43.65 | 54.82 | 2:38.47 | 25.16 |
| 22 | 29 | 292967 | EISATH Florian | 1984 | ITA | 1:44.47 | 54.06 | 2:38.53 | 25.55 |
| 23 | 38 | 510498 | ZUEGER Cornel | 1981 | SUI | 1:43.70 | 54.91 | 2:38.61 | 26.07 |
| 24 | 5 | 51005 | SCHEIBER Mario | 1983 | AUT | 1:45.09 | 53.72 | 2:38.81 | 27.36 |
| 25 | 33 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | 1:44.59 | 54.23 | 2:38.82 | 27.43 |
| 26 | 26 | 102727 | STUTZ Paul | 1983 | CAN | 1:45.64 | 53.27 | 2:38.91 | 28.01 |
| 27 | 6 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 1:42.02 | 57.01 | 2:39.03 | 28.79 |
| 28 | 28 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:44.93 | 54.63 | 2:39.56 | 32.22 |
| 29 | 51 | 561067 | PERKO Rok | 1985 | SLO | 1:44.01 | 56.07 | 2:40.08 | 35.58 |
| 30 | 41 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:43.27 | 56.86 | 2:40.13 | 35.90 |
| 31 | 57 | 420911 | SOLBAKKEN Bjarne | 1977 | NOR | 1:44.30 | 55.93 | 2:40.23 | 36.55 |
| 32 | 49 | 150594 | TREJBAL Filip | 1985 | CZE | 1:46.35 | 53.90 | 2:40.25 | 36.68 |
| 33 | 50 | 480736 | HOROSHILOV Alexandr | 1984 | RUS | 1:46.10 | 54.40 | 2:40.50 | 38.30 |
| 34 | 40 | 192932 | FAYED Guillermo | 1985 | FRA | 1:44.95 | 56.12 | 2:41.07 | 41.98 |
| 35 | 31 | 530939 | WEIBRECHT Andrew | 1986 | USA | 1:46.68 | 54.92 | 2:41.60 | 45.41 |
| 36 | 42 | 102435 | JANYK Michael | 1982 | CAN | 1:48.44 | 53.86 | 2:42.30 | 49.94 |
| 37 | 47 | 380298 | SIROKI Tin | 1987 | CRO | 1:46.29 | 56.11 | 2:42.40 | 50.59 |
| 38 | 45 | 293141 | VARETTONI Silvano | 1984 | ITA | 1:45.45 | 57.25 | 2:42.70 | 52.53 |
| 39 | 54 | 480794 | CHAADAYEV Alexey | 1986 | RUS | 1:47.09 | 55.80 | 2:42.89 | 53.76 |
| 40 | 58 | 40171 | BRANCH Craig | 1977 | AUS | 1:44.10 | 59.52 | 2:43.62 | 58.48 |
| 41 | 32 | 191740 | CLAREY Johan | 1981 | FRA | 1:43.18 | 1:00.87 | 2:44.05 | 61.26 |
| 42 | 23 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 1:43.55 | 1:02.64 | 2:46.19 | 75.11 |
| 43 | 59 | 102961 | DIXON Robbie | 1985 | CAN | 1:43.55 | 1:23.43 | 3:06.98 | 209.60 |
 |
| Official timekeeper |
Did not start 2nd run : MICKEL Finlay (GBR), FRISCH Jeffrey (CAN), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE)
Did not finish 1st run : VIDOSA Roger (AND), KEPPLER Stephan (GER)
Did not finish 2nd run : SASAKI Akira (JPN), HEEL Werner (ITA), OLSSON Matts (SWE), LANNING Thomas (tj) (USA), KOLL Alexander (AUT), MATT Mario (AUT), BERTHOD Marc (SUI), DEFAGO Didier (SUI)
Disqualified 1st run : LANZINGER Matthias (AUT), JANKA Carlo (SUI)
Disqualified 2nd run : VAN BUYNDER Frederik (BEL)
About the Author: Pete Rugh
