Razzoli wins race, Kostelic everything else at Cup finale

When the fourth skier of the first run, Jean-Baptiste Grange, skied out, the final race of the 2011 World Cup, the men’s slalom at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 19, became an exhibition. Grange’s absence in the final run, two and a half hours later, meant Ivica Kostelic would win not only the overall trophy he so coveted, but also the slalom crown, his second but first since 2002. He would also be awarded the combined trophy.

But before the ceremonies there was this race to be completed, plenty of television cameras and all the slalom skill in the world. It was showtime.

Conditions weren’t good, bad enough, in fact, to cancel the longer, faster women’s GS earlier in the day. It was foggy and soft, the course rutted, providing a tough test. Six different men held the lead during the second run. Newly crowned Europa Cup slalom king Nolan Kasper took over from first starter Matthias Hargin. Axel Baeck took the lead from Kasper and Canadian Michael Janyk from Baeck. The skier after Jaynk, Swiss Marc Gini got and held the lead until the 17th starter, Olympic champion Giuliano Razzoli recommandeered it with what would turn out to be the second fastest run of the afternoon. That left the fastest seven skiers from the first run on a badly deteriorated course.

The final two, Felix Neureuther and first run winner Mario Matt put up a fight, churning down the Silvano Beltrametti course with everything they had. Neureuther fell short by .25 of a second. Matt, starting with a lead of .72, dropped a large portion of that by the first interval when he was .58 ahead. At the second interval he was behind by .03 and though he turned on the afterburners he never made that amount back, finishing the same .03 behind Razzoli.

It was the first win of the season for Razzoli and just his second World Cup win ever. Matt, the winner of the last two slaloms of the season after not starting a Cup race in December was second. Neureuther posted his second best result of the season.

The big winner, as everyone knew going in, was Kostelic. He finished the first run in 13th and wound up 18th taking no risks whatsoever, then headed to the podium to collect his hardware.

For the record, Michael Janyk had the fastest second run ended up fifth, giving him three top five slalom finishes on the season. GS champ Ted Ligety finished 12th and Kasper 15th.

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Men’s World Cup slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 19, 2011
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/binding
1 Razzoli, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2 Matt, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
3 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Gini, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5 Janyk, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Myhrer, Nordica/Nordica/
7 Larsson, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Schmidiger, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10 Missillier, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Men’s World Cup slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 19, 2011… It is the 39th and final race of the men’s World Cup schedule with three cancelations. … the tenth of ten slaloms.

It is the second career World Cup win for Giuliano Razzoli, the first also in slalom at Zagreb Jan. 6, 2010. … It is his sixth career Cup podium all in slalom. … It is his second podium of the season after placing third at Kitzbuehel Jan. 23.

It is the 33rd career World Cup podium for Mario Matt. … his 31st in slalom. … It is his third slalom podium scored at Lenzerheide having won March 13, 2005 and placing 2nd March 18, 2007. … It is his third podium of the season all scored since Feb. 27. … the first that was not a win.

It is the tenth World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther … ninth in slalom. … It is his second podium of the season and first in slalom having placed second in combined at Bansko, Bulgaria Feb. 26.

It is the tenth top five World Cup result for Michael Janyk. … all in slalom. … and his fourth of the season all since Jan. 16 when he placed fourth at Wengen. … It is the 24th time Ted Ligety has placed 12th or better in a World Cup slalom. … He beat his previous best in slalom at Lenzerheide by two placings scored four years and one day ago. … It is his second best slalom result of the season after a sixth at Zagreb Jan. 6. … It is the sixth career Cup scoring result for Nolan Kasper. … all in slalom and all this season.

Ivica Kostelic wins the World Cup overall title 1356-956 over Didier Cuche (did not race). …Carlo Janka (did not race) finishes third overall withn 793pts. … Ligety is top American overall in ninth place with 610pts. … Erik Guay (did not race) is top Canadian overall in 26th place with 303pts. … Kostelic wins the World Cup slalom title 478-442 (36pts) over Jean-Baptiste Grange (DNF 1st). … Andre Myhrer (6th in race) finished third in slalom with 423pts. … Janyk is top Canadian in 13th with 217pts. … Kasper is top US skier in 17th with 164pts. … Austria wins the men’s Nations Cup 5684-4164 over Switzerland. … Italy finishes third with 3036pts. … The US is sixth with 1495 and Canada ninth with 1224pts.