Kitzbühel: Grange wins SL; Miller takes combi for record win
Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange won his third straight slalom Sunday and he did it at Kitzbuehel to add his name to an illustrious list of Frenchmen. He joins Jean-Pierre Vidal, Jean-Noel Augert, Patrick Russel and Jean-Claude Killy as Frenchmen to have won the Hahenkamm slalom.
Grange charged to a strong first run lead, despite some problems high on course, and held on to edge Swede Jens Byggmark who won twice at Kitzbuehel last season.
Austrian Mario Matt, the winner at Wengen a week ago, was third and another Frenchman, Julien Lizeroux fourth.
American Bode Miller finished 14th to seal the combined title and win the overall Hahnenkamm trophy. He finished second in Saturday's downhill.
Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange won his third straight slalom Sunday and he did it at Kitzbuehel to add his name to an illustrious list of Frenchmen. He joins Jean-Pierre Vidal, Jean-Noel Augert, Patrick Russel and Jean-Claude Killy as Frenchmen to have won the Hahenkamm slalom.
Grange charged to a strong first run lead, despite some problems high on course, and held on to edge Swede Jens Byggmark who won twice at Kitzbuehel last season.
"Everything's going very smooth for me these days," Grange said. "I am concentrating well and I know that I am a fast skier. Winning in Kitzbuehel is a big moment for me."
Austrian Mario Matt, the winner at Wengen a week ago, was third and another Frenchman, Julien Lizeroux fourth.
American Bode Miller finished 14th to seal the combined title and win the overall Hahnenkamm trophy. He finished second in Saturday's downhill. The win gives him the U.S. all-time record as he eclipses the mark of 27 wins set by Phil Mahre in the 1980's.
"'It's a nice record, something you dream about as a kid," the 30-year-old Miller said. "As a professional skier, you're more focussed on winning each individual race. Before the season, it was my target to break that record and it's a really good feeling if you reach your goals."
Perhaps more exciting than breaking records for Miller's coach Johno McBride, was "… seeing him string five slalom runs together."
McBride said Miller has been searching for a slalom ski that would work for him. "We've been looking for a long time, all last season and the beginning of this season. He's been going to a stiffer and stiffer ski that doesn't fold up underneath him. … Head has a new man designing and we got one just before Wengen that he used in the combined for the first time. It's difficult because it is a very unforgiving ski, but it is by far the best we've had yet."
The coach said Miller had "skied smart" and done what he had to do to assure the combined win, but with Schladming looming Tuesday night, he ventured, "We might see another gear at Schladming. He likes that hill. The pedal might go down a little harder."
It wasn't the only new ski employed in the Kitzbuehel slalom. Mario Matt used a new Fischer ski with a hole in the tip.
''I wore them for the first time in training last Wednesday and it was OK,'' Matt said. ''I had two extreme errors, otherwise everything would have been possible today.''
Ted Ligety finished eighth on the day to lead the U.S. Ski Team. Canadian Michael Janyk was 15th and teammates Patrick Biggs 21st, and Paul Stutz 25th.
"I definitely felt a little tired after racing all of the races here in Kitz," Ligety said. "It was a long, tough weekend, and it was exciting. I mean it is so cool to be able to race the Hahnenkamm, and to do a slalom, so it's good to get that kind of conditioning in."
''That's an OK result for me,'' Ligety said. ''Grange is on fire these days. He is invincible.''
Ligety said he hoped to finish better than eighth as a tribute to injured teammate Scott Macartney. The veteran speedster is recovering in an Innsbruck hospital after crashing hard in the downhill and suffering a major concussion.
"That was so great to get some good news about Mac last night, I mean we were so scared for him," Ligety said.
Now Ligety turns his focus to the night slalom on Tuesday in Schladming.
"Schladming is just the big slalom here," he said. "I needed a couple of big finishes to solidify my standings in the top 15, so now I can take it up the next level and ski faster."
— Jack Shaw , Hank McKee and Eric Willemsen of Associated Press contributed to the story
The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men's slalom, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 20, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Byggmark, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Matt, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
4 Lizeroux, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
5 Schoenfelder, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
Men's combined, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 19-20, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Schoenfelder, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Jerman, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
7 Stutz, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia
8 Kucera, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
10 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
Men's slalom and combined, Kitzbuehel Austria, Jan. 20, 2008. … These are the 23rd and 24th events of the men's 2008 World Cup schedule. … The sixth of 11 scheduled slaloms and the third of five scheduled combinations. … It is the first and only traditionally scored combined on the schedule. … These are the final events of the 78th annual Hahenkamm. …They are the 128th and 129th World Cup events held at Kitzbuehel. … The 42nd slalom and the 28th combined.
Slalom
The slalom is the fourth career World Cup win for Jean-Baptiste Grange and his third straight slalom win having won Alta Badia Dec. 17 and Wengen Jan. 12. … He had not placed better than tenth previously at Kitzbuehel. … He had won the combined at Wengen, but declined to race the DH at Kitzbuehel.
It is the sixth career podium, all in slalom, for Jens Byggmark. … His only two World Cup v
ictories came at Kitzbuehel last season. … It is the third time he has finished second this season – BadKleinkirchheim Dec. 9, Wengen Jan. 12 and today.
It is the 26th career World Cup podium for Mario Matt. … His third of the season and second of the season in slalom. … He won Adelboden Jan. 6.
Of 11 scoring results this season, eighth matches the second poorest for Ted Ligety, but he placed fifth his second straight combined. … It was the second best slalom result of the season for Bode Miller after a fifth at Wengen. … It was the best result of the season and fourth slalom scoring result of the season for Michael Janyk. … It was the eighth career scoring result for Patrick Biggs and first of the season. … It was the fourth career scoring result for Paul Stutz.
Combined
It is the 28th career World Cup victory for Bode Miller. … It is his third career combined win and second at Kitzbuehel. … He earns the 78th Hahenkamm title with the win. … He, Phil Mahre and Bob Cochran are the only Americans to have won the Hahnenkamm trophy… He is now in sole possession of the U,S. World Cup record having past Phil Mahre's mark set at Furano, Japan March 19, 2983. … It is the 180th U.S. World Cup win and seventh of the season. … Miller is now one win from matching Stephan Eberharter for seventh on the men's all-time win list.
It is the 73rd career World Cup podium for Benjamin Raich. … His fifth of the season. … It is his eighth career podium in combined. … He won the combined at Kitzbuehel in 2006 and was also second in 2004.
It is the 21st career World Cup podium for Rainer Schoenfelder. … his fourth in combined. … It is his fourth podium at Kitzbuehel, but the first in combined. … It is his first podium of the season.
It is the 17th career World Cup podium for Ivica Kostelic. … His second in combined with the remainder coming in slalom. … It is his first podium of the season. … He has one previous podium for Kitzbuehel, a third in slalom in 2005.
It is the second straight fifth place finish in combined for Ted Ligety having also placed fifth at Wengen Jan. 11. … It is his second best career combined result having been fourth at Reiteralm Dec. 10, 2006. … It is a career best result for Paul Stutz and his first result in the top 10. … It is a career best combined result for John Kucera and his sixth best result of the season in all disciplines.
Margins/Standings
Winning margin in the slalom is .15 of a second. … Third is .52 back. … Top five are within the same second. … Top 14 within two seconds. … Winning margin of the combined is .93. … Third place is more than two seconds back. … Andrej Jerman in sixth is nearly seven seconds off the pace. … Raich maintains the lead in the overall World Cup standings 860-831 for Bode Miller. … Didier Cuche is third at 794. … Jean-Baptiste Grange extends his lead in the World Cup slaloms standings to 376-256 over Jens Byggmark. … Benjamin Raich (7th in race) sits third at 252 and Felix Neureuther (6th in race) fourth at 239. … Ted Ligety is the top American on the slalom list at 152. … Miller leads the combined standings 210-180 for Daniel Albrecht (did not race) and Grange. … Raich is fourth at 130 and Ligety fifth with 122pts. … Austria's lead in the men's Nations Cup is 4259-2588 for Switzerland. … Italy is third at 2046 and the U.S. fourth at 2031.
Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
1 | 7 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 55.21 | 49.83 | 1:45.04 | 0.00 |
2 | 6 | 501101 | BYGGMARK Jens | 1985 | SWE | 55.54 | 49.65 | 1:45.19 | 0.87 |
3 | 4 | 50707 | MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 55.43 | 50.13 | 1:45.56 | 3.02 |
4 | 12 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 55.51 | 50.20 | 1:45.71 | 3.89 |
5 | 22 | 50547 | SCHOENFELDER Rainer | 1977 | AUT | 56.36 | 49.62 | 1:45.98 | 5.46 |
6 | 1 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 55.56 | 50.58 | 1:46.14 | 6.39 |
7 | 2 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 56.46 | 49.77 | 1:46.23 | 6.91 |
8 | 15 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 55.95 | 50.29 | 1:46.24 | 6.97 |
9 | 8 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 56.16 | 50.17 | 1:46.33 | 7.49 |
10 | 3 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 55.69 | 50.75 | 1:46.44 | 8.13 |
11 | 39 | 192506 | MISSILLIER Steve | 1984 | FRA | 56.80 | 49.74 | 1:46.54 | 8.71 |
12 | 13 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | 55.91 | 50.76 | 1:46.67 | 9.47 |
13 | 18 | 50605 | HERBST Reinfried | 1978 | AUT | 57.37 | 49.43 | 1:46.80 | 10.22 |
14 | 17 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 56.67 | 50.17 | 1:46.84 | 10.45 |
15 | 10 | 102435 | JANYK Michael | 1982 | CAN | 56.13 | 50.95 | 1:47.08 | 11.85 |
16 | 25 | 301312 | SASAKI Akira | 1981 | JPN | 57.13 | 50.12 | 1:47.25 | 12.83 |
17 | 21 | 560425 | VAJDIC Bernard | 1980 | SLO | 57.40 | 49.95 | 1:47.35 | 13.41 |
18 | 50 | 511352 | VILETTA Sandro | 1986 | SUI | 57.35 | 50.04 | 1:47.39 | 13.65 |
19 | 20 | 291145 | DEVILLE Cristian | 1981 | ITA | 57.04 | 50.49 | 1:47.53 | 14.46 |
20 | 49 | 50981 | HOERL Wolfgang | 1983 | AUT | 58.05 | 49.50 | 1:47.55 | 14.58 |
21 | 44 | 102456 | BIGGS Patrick | 1982 | CAN | 57.66 | 50.40 | 1:48.06 | 17.54 |
22 | 24 | 290732 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | 57.90 | 50.34 | 1:48.24 | 18.58 |
23 | 30 | 500499 | BROLENIUS Johan | 1977 | SWE | 57.93 | 50.61 | 1:48.54 | 20.33 |
24 | 9 | 180251 | PALANDER Kalle | 1977 | FIN | 55.91 | 52.75 | 1:48.66 | 21.02 |
25 | 52 | 102727 | STUTZ Paul | 1983 | CAN | 58.15 | 50.78 | 1:48.93 | 22.59 |
26 | 47 | 293098 | RAZZOLI Giuliano | 1984 | ITA | 58.33 | 58.08 | 1:56.41 | 66.03 |
Did not start 1st run : SULZENBACHER Kurt (ITA), NYMAN Steven (USA), BJOERGVINSSON Bjoergvin (ISL)
Did not finish 1st run : SPORN Andrej (SLO), VAN DEN BOGAERT Jeroen (BEL), ROY Jean-Philippe (CAN), SANDELL Marcus (FIN), GEORGIEV Stefan (BUL), VOGL Alois (GER), VOGEL Markus (SUI), BRANDENBURG Will (USA), MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas (FRA), BRENNER Hannes (AUT), CHENAL Joel (FRA), ENGL Kurt (AUT), IMBODEN Urs (MDA), VALENCIC Mitja (SLO), KOGLER Stefan (GER), HARGIN Mattias (SWE), YUASA Naoki (JPN), ALBRECHT Kilian (BUL), TREJBAL Filip (CZE), KELLEY Tim (USA), HIRSCHER Marcel (AUT), FILL Peter (ITA), SCHEIBER Mario (AUT), LAHDENPERAE Anton (SWE), HANSSON Martin (SWE), COCHRAN Jimmy (USA), BERTHOD Marc (SUI), GINI Marc (SUI)
Did not finish 2nd run : KARLSEN Truls Ove (NOR), ROCCA Giorgio (ITA), ALBRECHT Daniel (SUI), LARSSON Markus (SWE)
Disqualified 1st run : SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG), DEFAGO Didier (SUI)
Did not qualify 2nd run : STAUDACHER Patrick (ITA), HEEL Werner (ITA), THEAUX Adrien (FRA), ROUX Christophe (MDA), ZRNCIC-DIM Natko (CRO), HOROSHILOV Alexandr (RUS), BAXTER Alain (GBR), QUARTEL DE Alwin (NED), RAINER Niklas (SWE), BECHTER Patrick (AUT), VRABLIK Martin (CZE), IKUTA Yasuhiro (JPN), INNERHOFER Christof (ITA), OBERT Anthony (FRA), PAQUIN Pierre (FRA), OMMINGER Andreas (AUT), BAUMANN Romed (AUT), JANSRUD Kjetil (NOR), JITLOFF Tim (USA), WHITE Trevor (CAN), KRYZL Krystof (CZE), ANSELMET Alexandre (FRA), LEINO Jukka (FIN), DRAGSIC Mitja (SLO), MARSHALL Cody (USA), ANDERSSON Oscar (SWE), CUCHE Didier (SUI), WALCHHOFER Michael (AUT), JERMAN Andrej (SLO), KUCERA John (CAN), KOLL Alexander (AUT), MINAGAWA Kentaro (JPN)
Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
1 | 17 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 3:39.86 | |
2 | 2 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 3:40.79 | |
3 | 22 | 50547 | SCHOENFELDER Rainer | 1977 | AUT | 3:42.04 | |
3 | 8 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 3:42.04 | |
5 | 15 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 3:42.95 | |
6 | 34 | 560332 | JERMAN Andrej | 1978 | SLO | 3:46.85 | |
7 | 52 | 102727 | STUTZ Paul | 1983 | CAN | 3:47.26 | |
8 | 31 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 3:47.63 | |
9 | 37 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 3:48.14 | |
10 | 72 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 3:48.50 | |
11 | 69 | 191462 | PAQUIN Pierre | 1979 | FRA | 3:49.75 | |
12 | 92 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 3:49.92 | |
13 | 79 | 501026 | RAINER Niklas | 1983 | SWE | 3:50.80 | |
14 | 94 | 290998 | STAUDACHER Patrick | 1980 | ITA | 3:52.20 | |
15 | 83 | 480736 | HOROSHILOV Alexandr | 1984 | RUS | 3:53.22 | |
16 | 67 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 3:54.51 | |
17 | 93 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 3:59.43 | |
18 | 86 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 4:11.52 |