Reiteralm: Kostelic wins, Ligety 4th in combi
Ted Ligety turned in the second-fastest slalom run Sunday and moved up 14 places to tie for fourth in a super combined won by slalom world champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia. Steve Nyman was 15th and Bode Miller skied out in the super G portion.
It was the first combined win for Kostelic and the eighth of his career — his first since December 2003. He has been struggling back from severe knee injuries since a January 2004 crash racing at Schladming, Austria — just down the road from Reiteralm.
Austrian world juniors champion Romed Baumann collected his first World Cup podium in second while French slalom ace Pierrick Bourgeat earned just the sixth combined podium in French history.
REITERALM, Austria — Ted Ligety turned in the second-fastest slalom run Sunday and moved up 14 places to tie for fourth in a super combined won by slalom world champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia. Steve Nyman was 15th and Bode Miller skied out in the super G portion.
It was the first combined win for Kostelic and the eighth of his career — his first since December 2003. He has been struggling back from severe knee injuries since a January 2004 crash racing at Schladming, Austria — just down the road from Reiteralm.
Austrian world juniors champion Romed Baumann collected his first World Cup podium in second while French slalom ace Pierrick Bourgeat earned just the sixth combined podium in French history.
Kostelic, the 27-year-old former slalom world champion from Zagreb, set a strong base in the first leg, clocking the seventh-best super G time. It was the first triumph ever for him in super combined after winning seven World Cup slaloms and a gold medal at the 2003 FIS World Championships. He is the eighth different World Cup winner this season from a different nation.
”After the super G race, I was hoping for a top result in that event and I skied really well in the slalom,” Kostelic said. “I enjoyed the snow conditions in that slalom run because the course was not icy as it’s usually the case. I rather ski with much feeling and this was possible today on that slope. It means a lot to me to win that super combined because it has developed into a big event. A lot of top skiers were competing today. You have to be a good skier to win a combined, it's more difficult than to win a normal race as you have to be able to ski in different ways within a few hours."
Combined events have always been a specialty in the Kostelic family. Janica has been stellar in that discipline in the past few years, winning all the combined events she entered since January 2002, including at the medal events in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Baumann finished 14th at Levi in slalom and he clocked the ninth-best time this morning despite starting the super G in 54th position.
Benjamin Raich was only 20th in the super G and made a big mistake in the middle of his slalom run while trying hard to make up time.
Bourgeat better handled the difficult course conditions to capture his first podium in a combined event. He had been twice 4th in classic combined and has won three World Cup slaloms in past years.
The race was moved from Val d’Isere, France, because of poor snow conditions. It mixed a super G and one run of slalom. Kostelic finished in a total time of 2 minutes, 8.90 seconds, with Ligety, 23rd in the super G, tied for fourth with Swede Hans Olsson at 2:10.44.
“My super G was pretty good — and it was a rugged super G – but my slalom’s still a work in progress,” Ligety said, referring to a broken right hand, which is healing and getting stronger, “but I’m happy. The super G was bumpy, for sure.
“There was a little bit of snow and it made the frozen snow underneath pretty rotten. It was bumpy and hard to get an edge in the super G but the slalom had better conditions than I thought they’d be. It held up pretty well.”
He added, “The super G was definitely gnarly. We had light snow through the race and it was overcast, so the light was a little tough, but I’m happy. I hope to get a couple of more races and have some more good results.”
Nyman’s two-run time was 2:11.25 while Jimmy Cochran, moving beyond his normal gate-running routine this season, started 70th, moved up to 50th in the super G and finished 31st, one-hundredth of a second away from World Cup points.
“Ted did a really good job again. He was so close to the podium and that's very encouraging,” head coach Phil McNichol said. “And Nyman had a few bobbles in super G or he’d have been higher.”
The overnight snow, mixed with some rain, created tricky conditions, he said, “and if you got off-line, if you went off course just a bit, you’d get into some of that soft snow and the conditions became very variable … and that’s what happened with Bode. He was doing well — he had the fastest time at the top, but he got off a bit, he went to his inside ski and put his hand down and bounced into some of that soft snow and he just couldn’t get out.
“This isn’t a hard course, but that makes it even more challenging because if you have a mistake there’s no place to make up time. So, if you get off-line, it can really cost you.”
T.J.Lanning also skied out in the super G while Scott Macartney and Marco Sullivan did not finish the slalom portion.
The Canadians fared a bit better with four scoring results — John Kucera in 13th, Francois Bourque in 18th, Ryan Semple 22nd and Michael Janyk 26th
The men’s schedule resumes Friday and Saturday in Italy with the traditional downhill and super G in Val Gardena, Italy, followed by a giant slalom and slalom next Sunday and Monday in nearby Alta Badia, Italy.
— Patrick Lang contributed to this report
THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men’s super combined, Reiteralm, Austria, Dec. 10, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
2 Baumann, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
3 Bourgeat, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Olsson, Head/Head/Tyrolia
6 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Rainer, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8 Schoenfelder, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
9 Zurbriggen, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia
10 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
Men’s super combined (SG-SL) Reiteralm, Austria, Dec. 10, 2006. … It is the eighth race of the men’s 38-event 2007 World Cup schedule. … The event was originally scheduled for Val d’Isere, France, and was moved due to warm weather and a lack of adequate snowcover. … It is the second of five scheduled combineds for the men.
It is the eighth World Cup victory for Ivica Kostelic. … The first of which was not a slalom. &helli
p; It is the first combined won by a Croatian male. … Kostelic won the silver medal in combined at the 2006 Olympics. … He had not won in any World Cup discipline since Dec. 15, 2003, in a night slalom at Madonna di Campiglio.
It is the first World Cup podium for Romed Baumann. … He has just five World Cup scoring events to his career, the previous best a 14th in slalom at Levi to open this season. … Baumann is 20, from Hochfilzen, Austria, and has won four World Junior Championships medals and the 2006 Europa Cup DH title.
It is the ninth career podium result for Pierrick Bourgeat. … The first in an event other than slalom. … His previous best in combined was fourth at Chamonix Jan. 11, 2004. … Historically the French have not been successful in combined and Bourgeat is just the sixth French skier, and third French male, to earn a Cup combined podium placing.
It is the sixth-best career World Cup result for Ted Ligety and his best combined result. … He won the gold medal in the discipline at the 2006 Olympics. … He has finished fourth and 10th in two combineds held this season and also has a podium (3rd) in GS. … It is the second-best combined result (and third best in any discipline) for John Kucera. … He had been 12th at Wengen Jan. 14, 2005. … He has registered a win in SG earlier this season. … It is the third-best career combined result for Steven Nyman, his second best of the season, having placed 13th at Beaver Creek. … His best combined finish is sixth at Kitzbühel Jan. 22, 2006. … It is the third-best career combined result for Francois Bourque, his best a ninth at Kitzbühel Jan. 22, 2006 and next best 12th at Beaver Creek Nov. 30 this season. … The 22nd-place result matches the third best of Ryan Semple’s career. … He has one better combined placing, 21st at Wengen Jan. 13, 2006. … It is the first non-slalom scoring result for Michael Janyk. … He has gained points in 13 slaloms and one combined. … Jimmy Cochran missed gaining a point by one-hundredth of a second.
Winning margin was over a second. … Tenth place was exactly two seconds back. … Aksel Svindal (sixth in race) leads the combined standings 140-100 over Kostelic. … Marc Berthod (18th in race) is third in the standings at 93. … Ligety leads the U.S. skiers in sixth place with 76 pts. … Svindal also leads the overall standings 275-206 over Peter Fill (12th in race). … Didier Cuche (did not compete) is third in the overall standings at 204pts. Bode Miller (DNF SG) leads the U.S. in overall standings in ninth place with 142pts. … He is one place ahead of Ligety with 136pts. … Kucera leads all North Americans in seventh place with 146pts.
The SG-SL combined at Reiteralm was the only alpine World Cup race on the revised schedule this week.
Reiteralm men's World Cup super combi results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 20 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 2:08.90 | |
| 2 | 54 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 2:09.98 | |
| 3 | 18 | 190915 | BOURGEAT Pierrick | 1976 | FRA | 2:10.41 | |
| 4 | 24 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 2:10.44 | |
| 4 | 4 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | 2:10.44 | |
| 6 | 28 | 421328 | SVINDAL Aksel Lund | 1982 | NOR | 2:10.47 | |
| 7 | 5 | 501026 | RAINER Niklas | 1983 | SWE | 2:10.54 | |
| 8 | 29 | 50547 | SCHOENFELDER Rainer | 1977 | AUT | 2:10.82 | |
| 9 | 16 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 2:10.89 | |
| 10 | 30 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 2:10.90 | |
| 11 | 10 | 290998 | STAUDACHER Patrick | 1980 | ITA | 2:10.96 | |
| 12 | 27 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 2:11.08 | |
| 13 | 2 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 2:11.10 | |
| 14 | 32 | 51005 | SCHEIBER Mario | 1983 | AUT | 2:11.16 | |
| 15 | 12 | 533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | 2:11.25 | |
| 16 | 25 | 50041 | WALCHHOFER Michael | 1975 | AUT | 2:11.30 | |
| 17 | 62 | 50900 | KOLL Alexander | 1982 | AUT | 2:11.32 | |
| 18 | 23 | 510997 | BERTHOD Marc | 1983 | SUI | 2:11.37 | |
| 18 | 15 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 2:11.37 | |
| 20 | 14 | 290478 | ROCCA Giorgio | 1975 | ITA | 2:11.45 | |
| 21 | 13 | 560406 | GORZA Ales | 1980 | SLO | 2:11.52 | |
| 22 | 75 | 102403 | SEMPLE Ryan | 1982 | CAN | 2:11.55 | |
| 23 | 6 | 191462 | PAQUIN Pierre | 1979 | FRA | 2:11.59 | |
| 24 | 36 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 2:11.63 | |
| 25 | 19 | 150398 | BANK Ondrej | 1980 | CZE | 2:11.70 | |
| 26 | 61 | 102435 | JANYK Michael | 1982 | CAN | 2:11.79 | |
| 27 | 39 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 2:11.82 | |
| 28 | 17 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 2:11.87 | |
| 29 | 72 | 50707 | MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 2:11.88 | |
| 30 | 9 | 421400 | MYHRE Lars Elton | 1984 | NOR | 2:11.99 | |
| 31 | 70 | 534040 | COCHRAN Jimmy | 1981 | USA | 2:12.00 | |
| 32 | 58 | 150594 | TREJBAL Filip | 1985 | CZE | 2:12.04 | |
| 33 | 49 | 511383 | FEUZ Beat | 1987 | SUI | 2:12.16 | |
| 33 | 46 | 180449 | PELLINEN Jouni | 1983 | FIN | 2:12.16 | |
| 35 | 47 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 2:12.24 | |
| 36 | 11 | 510993 | ALBRECHT Daniel | 1983 | SUI | 2:12.32 | |
| 37 | 8 | 50451 | GRUBER Christoph | 1976 | AUT | 2:12.45 | |
| 38 | 50 | 510307 | BRAND Olivier | 1980 | SUI | 2:12.50 | |
| 39 | 53 | 102727 | STUTZ Paul | 1983 | CAN | 2:12.52 | |
| 40 | 1 | 560332 | JERMAN Andrej | 1978 | SLO | 2:12.64 | |
| 41 | 68 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 2:12.81 | |
| 42 | 60 | 180534 | SANDELL Marcus | 1987 | FIN | 2:13.08 | |
| 43 | 37 | 292967 | EISATH Florian | 1984 | ITA | 2:13.30 | |
| 44 | 65 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 2:13.43 | |
| 45 | 64 | 220083 | BAXTER Noel | 1981 | GBR | 2:13.48 | |
| 46 | 38 | 292056 | GUFLER Michael | 1979 | ITA | 2:13.57 | |
| 47 | 51 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 2:13.69 | |
| 48 | 56 | 292120 | SIMONCELLI Davide | 1979 | ITA | 2:13.82 | |
| 49 | 33 | 102263 | GUAY Erik | 1981 | CAN | 2:13.97 | |
| 50 | 44 | 102271 | HUDEC Jan | 1981 | CAN | 2:15.47 | |
| 51 | 52 | 561085 | KRIZAJ Andrej | 1986 | SLO | 2:15.53 | |
| 52 | 71 | 90047 | GEORGIEV Stefan | 1977 | BUL | 2:16.91 | |
| 53 | 57 | 700037 | HEIMSCHILD Ivan | 1980 | SVK | 2:16.97 | |
| 54 | 74 | 540001 | VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus | 1959 | MEX | 2:33.11 |
 |
Did not finish 1st run :
KOGLER Stefan (GER), ZAGORSKI Wojciech (POL), ROUX Christophe (MDA), MISSILLIER Steve (FRA), LANNING Thomas (tj) (USA), MATTI Bernhard (SUI), KEPPLER Stephan (GER), MILLER Bode (USA), SPORN Andrej (SLO)
Did not finish 2nd run :
QUARTEL DE Alwin (NED), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE), SULLIVAN Marco (USA), PERKO Rok (SLO), JANKA Carlo (SUI), MACARTNEY Scott (USA), MAIER Hermann (AUT), DEFAGO Didier (SUI), LARSSON Markus (SWE)
Disqualified 1st run :
HOROSHILOV Alexandr (RUS)
Disqualified 2nd run :
ANDERSSON Oscar (SWE)
Did not complete slalom :
REICHELT Hannes (AUT)
About the Author: Pete Rugh
