Kranjska Gora: Ligety rallies to win GS
American Ted Ligety won the second World Cup race of his career Saturday, and in the process moved into the lead of the GS standings with an outstanding second run down the Podkoren 3 course at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
Ligety, third after the first run behind leader Massimiliano Blardone and Manfred Moelgg, clocked the second-fastest time his second run down the track to edge Moelgg by 0.15 seconds and Blardone in third, who faded with just the 15th-fastest second run time to finish 0.80 back of Ligety.
"It feels really good," Ligety said of the win. "It's nice because it's been a long time coming. I've had a lot of podiums and close calls, now I finally have it."
AMERICAN TED Ligety won the second World Cup race of his career Saturday, and in the process moved into the lead of the GS standings with an outstanding second run down the Podkoren 3 course at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
Ligety, third after the first run behind leader Massimiliano Blardone and Manfred Moelgg, clocked the second-fastest time his second run down the track to edge Moelgg by 0.15 seconds and Blardone in third, who faded with just the 15th-fastest second run time to finish 0.80 back of Ligety.
Ligety finished with an unofficial time of 2 minutes, 24.31 seconds, with Italy's Moelgg at 2:24.46 and Blardone at 2:25.11.
Ligety, with four podium finishes this season and a frustrating fourth-place result in the last GS race in Whistler, Canada, a few weeks ago, vaulted into the lead in the World Cup GS standings with one event remaining next week at the World Cup Finals in Bormio.
Ligety has 385 points to 358 for second-place Raich. Moelgg stayed squarely in the GS title hunt with 347 points for third place. Conditions at Kranjska Gora went from sublime to trash between inspection and the start of the first run and Ligety said he was fortunate to have an early start number (three).
"It was a big advantage to run early, He said. "It had been real hard, but when it got warm the layer of ice had a little layer on that peeled away. It was definitely a bumpy ride in the second run."
U.S. coach Phil McNichol said the change in conditions was "bizarre."
"The hill was in the best shape I have ever seen at Kranjska-Gora. It was hard. But between inspection and the start the temps soared and the humidity went through the roof. … It went from optimal to junk in the first seven racers."
That created some unusually large gaps in the field, with four seconds separating the first group from the rest.
The second run saw virtually all of the racers charging as hard as they could and Ligety was able to pull out the win.
"All of the top guys charged," said McNichol. "That's the way you want to see it. It was a really good race. It was super exciting."
For Ligety having the victory monkey off the back was a huge relief and McNichol said you could see that in his eyes.
"It feels really good," Ligety said. "It's nice because it's been a long time coming. I've had a lot of podiums and close calls, now I finally have it."
Ligety's only previous World Cup win came in 2006 in Korea in a GS, less than a month after he captured the Olympic gold medal in combined at the Torino Games. This win, he said, was sweeter than either of those.
Now Ligety said he will focus on the slalom tomorrow rather than celebrate the victory he's waited so long for.
"This has been a breakthrough hill for me," he said. "Hopefully, that continues."
Bode Miller survived a wild first run to finish the race in 11th place. Miller almost fell in the upper part of the first run and was on the verge of crashing out at the bottom.
''That's probably a two-second mistake,'' Miller said of his near fall in the upper part. ''When you make a mistake like that, you have to push hard afterward to make up time and I just kept making mistakes after that also.''
Miller's two main challengers for the overall title, Swiss Didier Cuche in second place and Austria's Benjamin Raich in third, finished sixth and fourth, respectively, but Miller still holds a solid lead heading into Sunday's slalom at Kranjska Gora and next week's Finals. Miller has 1,387 points, with Cuche second at 1,218. Raich has 1,123 points.
The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men's GS, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia March 8, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Blardone, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Berthod, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
7 Simoncelli, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8 Matt, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
9 Richard, Rossignol//Rossignol
10 Albrecht, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
Men's Giant Slalom, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. … It is the 36th race of the men's 41 race 2008 World Cup schedule. … It is the seventh of eight scheduled GS's. … It is the 64th World Cup race at Kranjska Gora. … the 31st GS. … Of the last six GS's at Kransjka Gora, Benjamin Raich has won four, including the last three, and Bode Miller two.
It is the second career win for Ted Ligety. … The other was March 5, 2006 in a GS at Yongpyong, Korea. … It is the fifth podium, and 11th top five of the season for Ligety. … 14 of his 16 scoring results this season have been eighth or better. … It is the 187th World Cup win for a U.S. skier and the second of the day combined with Lindsey Vonn's DH win at Crans-Montana. … It is the first man-woman World Cup win sweep since Dec. 20, 2006 when Vonn and Bode Miller won at Va; d'Isere DH and Hinterstoder SG respectively. … It is the 14th win of the season, four off the all-time mark of 18. … Ligety becomes the fourth U.S. racer this season to claim an alpine Cup win (Miller, Vonn and Marco Sullivan being the others).
It is the 10th career World Cup podium for Manfred Moelgg. … His sixth podium of the season. … He has never won a Cup race. … He made the podium at Kranjska Gora last season in slalom.
It is the 14th career World Cup podium for Massimiliano Blardone. … All of them in GS. … He has been on the podium his last three races at Kransjka Gora. … It is his second podium of the season the other a win at Bad Kleinkirchheim Dec. 8.
It is the best result at Kranjska Gora for Bode Miller since 2004 when he won. … It is his fourth best GS result, of four, this season. … He was 19th after the first run. … John Kucera matched his sixth best career result in GS. … It is the 17th GS scoring result of Francois Bourque's career. … The 62nd for Erik Scholpy. … his fourth of the season
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Winning margin is .15 of a second. … Top three are within the same second. … Top six within two seconds. … 14th place was more than three seconds back. … Bode Miller maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings by 169pts, 1387-1218 over Didier Cuche (sixth in race). … Benjamin Raich (fourth in race) is third overall at 1123. … Ligety moves to third at 762. … With one race remaining Ligety takes the lead of the GS standings 385-358 for Raich. … Manfred Moelgg is third at 347. … Daniel Albrecht in fourth has 284 and cannot win the title.
World Cup men's GS — Kranjska Gora
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 3 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 1:12.82 | 1:11.49 | 2:24.31 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 4 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 1:12.68 | 1:11.78 | 2:24.46 | 0.91 |
| 3 | 2 | 292000 | BLARDONE Massimiliano | 1979 | ITA | 1:12.62 | 1:12.49 | 2:25.11 | 4.88 |
| 4 | 1 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 1:13.01 | 1:12.44 | 2:25.45 | 6.95 |
| 5 | 10 | 510997 | BERTHOD Marc | 1983 | SUI | 1:14.14 | 1:11.98 | 2:26.12 | 11.04 |
| 6 | 7 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 1:13.78 | 1:12.44 | 2:26.22 | 11.65 |
| 7 | 9 | 292120 | SIMONCELLI Davide | 1979 | ITA | 1:14.13 | 1:12.34 | 2:26.47 | 13.17 |
| 8 | 14 | 50707 | MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 1:14.35 | 1:12.15 | 2:26.50 | 13.35 |
| 9 | 24 | 191423 | RICHARD Cyprien | 1979 | FRA | 1:14.39 | 1:12.52 | 2:26.91 | 15.85 |
| 10 | 6 | 510993 | ALBRECHT Daniel | 1983 | SUI | 1:14.09 | 1:12.98 | 2:27.07 | 16.83 |
| 11 | 12 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 1:15.53 | 1:11.70 | 2:27.23 | 17.81 |
| 12 | 8 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:14.81 | 1:12.44 | 2:27.25 | 17.93 |
| 13 | 11 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 1:14.34 | 1:12.92 | 2:27.26 | 17.99 |
| 14 | 41 | 190236 | COVILI Frederic | 1975 | FRA | 1:15.91 | 1:11.69 | 2:27.60 | 20.06 |
| 15 | 38 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 1:16.13 | 1:11.48 | 2:27.61 | 20.12 |
| 15 | 28 | 511313 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:15.06 | 1:12.55 | 2:27.61 | 20.12 |
| 17 | 23 | 190677 | CHENAL Joel | 1973 | FRA | 1:16.15 | 1:11.74 | 2:27.89 | 21.83 |
| 18 | 31 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 1:15.11 | 1:12.93 | 2:28.04 | 22.75 |
| 19 | 18 | 50423 | MAIER Hermann | 1972 | AUT | 1:15.22 | 1:12.97 | 2:28.19 | 23.66 |
| 20 | 33 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 1:16.03 | 1:12.27 | 2:28.30 | 24.33 |
| 21 | 15 | 50600 | GOERGL Stephan | 1978 | AUT | 1:14.93 | 1:13.43 | 2:28.36 | 24.70 |
| 22 | 27 | 420148 | KARLSEN Truls Ove | 1975 | NOR | 1:15.96 | 1:12.45 | 2:28.41 | 25.00 |
| 23 | 20 | 180534 | SANDELL Marcus | 1987 | FIN | 1:15.98 | 1:12.61 | 2:28.59 | 26.10 |
| 24 | 16 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 1:15.02 | 1:13.59 | 2:28.61 | 26.22 |
| 25 | 25 | 500656 | LARSSON Markus | 1979 | SWE | 1:15.88 | 1:12.75 | 2:28.63 | 26.34 |
| 26 | 29 | 530703 | SCHLOPY Erik | 1972 | USA | 1:15.88 | 1:12.85 | 2:28.73 | 26.95 |
| 27 | 36 | 292056 | GUFLER Michael | 1979 | ITA | 1:16.36 | 1:12.53 | 2:28.89 | 27.93 |
| 28 | 21 | 292250 | SCHIEPPATI Alberto | 1981 | ITA | 1:16.08 | 1:14.16 | 2:30.24 | 36.16 |
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Did not start 1st run: OLSSON Matts (SWE)
Did not finish 1st run: LAHDENPERAE Anton (SWE), VILETTA Sandro (SUI), KRYZL Krystof (CZE), PICHOT Sebastien (FRA), MYHRER Andre (SWE), RAINER Niklas (SWE), SCHOENFELDER Rainer (AUT), GRUBER Christoph (AUT)
Did not finish 2nd run: GORZA Ales (SLO), REICHELT Hannes (AUT)
Disqualified 1st run: GINI Marc (SUI), DIXON Robbie (CAN), EISATH Florian (ITA), LEINO Jukka (FIN)
Did not qualify 2nd run: SASAKI Akira (JPN), SKUBE Matic (SLO), ZAVIRSEK Matija (SLO), GRIFFIN Benjamin (NZE), NILSEN Markus (NOR), OBERT Anthony (FRA), NEUREUTHER Felix (GER), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE), KANTOLA Petteri (FIN), INNERHOFER Christof (ITA), SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG), VALENCIC Mitja (SLO), RAJALA Jukka (FIN), DOPFER Fritz (GER), VAJDIC Bernard (SLO), PLONER Alexander (ITA), MISSILLIER Steve (FRA), FREY Thomas (FRA), JANSRUD Kjetil (NOR), MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas (FRA), DE TESSIERES Gauthier (FRA), SCHOERGHOFER Philipp (AUT), GUAY Erik (CAN), COCHRAN Jimmy (USA), ROY Jean-Philippe (CAN), FILL Peter (ITA)
About the Author: Pete Rugh
