WENGEN 2005: Benni Raich wins first-ever Super Combi

By Published On: January 14th, 2005Comments Off on WENGEN 2005: Benni Raich wins first-ever Super Combi

WENGEN 2005: Benni Raich wins first-ever “Super Combi”Benjamin Raich of Austria is the first winner of a new event designed to encourage cross-discipline racing on the alpine World Cup. The “Super Combi,” as it has been dubbed, consists of one run of slalom and one run of downhill.

Wengen is celebrating it’s 75th anniversary this year, and showing the world that the most traditional ski race in the world is also open to innovations.

Bode Miller was the favorite to win today, and to pick up 100 World Cup points to pad his overall lead. But the New Hampshire native straddled a gate in the morning’s slalom portion of the race. The only American to finish the combined event was Scott Macartney, who has been sick recently.

The race was put on hold for 15 minutes after Bjarne Solbakken of Norway crashed off the final jump and slammed into the netting on the skier’s right near the finish. Complaining of dizzyness, Solbakken left the finish on his feet.

Miller agnostic about the new format
The day before the race, Miller said he couldn’t say yet whether the alteration to the combined format would put him at a disadvantage.

“At this point, the only thing I can say is that maybe since I’m one for four in slaloms, my chances of making it down in one run are better than my chances of making it down in two runs,” he said in a press conference on Thursday. “But at the same time, I’m generally faster in slalom, and so maybe I’d be able to put more of a gap on the other guys with a second run.”

-This page will be updated shortly.

World Cup

Men’s Combined
Wengen, Switzerland
Jan. 14, 2005

1. Benjamin Raich, AUT 2:28.37
2. Lasse Kjus, NOR 2:28.69
3. Didier Defago, SUI 2:29.77
4. Daniel Albrecht, SUI 2:30.17
5. Kjetil Andre Aamodt, NOR 2:30.19
6. Pierrick Bourgeat, FRA 2:30.25
7. Christoph Gruber, AUT 2:30.51
8. Peter Fill, ITA 2:30.77
9. Hermann Maier, AUT 2:31.65
9. Markus Larsson, SWE 2:31.65
11. Andrej Jerman, SLO 2:32.01
12. John Kucera, CAN 2:32.54
13. Stefan Johann Thanei, ITA 2:33.54
14. Ambrosi Hoffmann, SUI 2:33.73
15. Mario Scheiber, AUT 2:34.02
16. Scott Macartney, USA 2:34.43
17. Patrik Jaerbyn, SWE 2:35.82
18. Alex Antor, AND 2:35.96
19. Erik Guay, CAN 2:36.14
20. Marco Buechel, LIE 2:36.69
21. Paul Accola, SUI 2:38.92
22. Silvan Zurbriggen, SUI 2:41.48
23. Bernard Vajdic, SLO 2:49.05
24. Michael Walchhofer, AUT 2:53.81
25. Hubertus VonHohenloe, MEX 2:54.88
26. David Anderson, CAN 2:57.81
other North Americans:
DSQ SL: Bode Miller, USA.
DNS DH: Jeff Hume, CAN
DSQ DH Manuel Osborne-Paradis, CAN

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

equipment
Men’s Combined, Wengen, Jan. 14, 2005 Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Kjus, Dynastar/Atomic/Look
3 Defago, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Albrecht, Nordica/Nordica/Tyrolia
5 Aamodt, Dynastar/Nordica/Tyrolia
6 Bourgeat, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Gruber, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8 Fill, Dynastar/Tecnica/Look
9 Maier, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Larsson, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer

Men’s Combined, Wengen, Switzerland 1/14/2005 . … It is the first of two combineds on the men’s 35 race-2 combined World Cup schedule. … It is the first scored World Cup combined ever to feature a one-run SL and one-run (shortened track) DH. … It is a small .32 of a second victory margin.

It is the 15 career win for Benjamin Raich. … His first in combined. … It is his second win of the season after the Beaver Creek SL 12/5. … He has six podiums this season. … The win continues a success rate at Wengen for Raich who has won three Wengen slaloms since 1999.

It is the 60th career World Cup podium for Lasse Kjus. … It is his 14th career combined podium. … His seventh podium at Wengen (5th cmb) dating to 1995. … It is his third podium of the season including a win in GS at Beaver Creek 12/4 and 2nd Val d’Isere 12/12.

It is the fourth career podium for Didier Defago. … His first of the season. … His second career cmb podium. … He was 4th in last season’s cmb at Wengen.

It was the first career scoring result for John Kucera. … The sixth career scoring result for Scott MaCartney. … His best an eighth in the 2003 Wengen cmb. … It is the 18th scoring result for Erik Guay. … His eighth of the season. … After Paul Accola in 22nd skiers were not scored as they were 13 plus seconds out. … That’s a shame for Mexico as Hubertus VonHohenlohe would have gotten his first points in 20 years.

Bode Miller (DSQ in slalom) maintains the lead in the overall standings 988-790 for Benjamin Raich. … Daron Rahlves in fifth at 436 is the next best American. … Raich leads the combined standings 100-80 over Lasse Kjus. … Austria’s Nations Cup lead is 7728-3734 for the U.S. … Austrian men lead 4396-1796 for the U.S. with Italy at 1775 and the Swiss at 1729.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh