Beaver Creek: Swiss Albrecht wins again; Ligety 4th
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Somebody woke up the Swiss. Daniel Albrecht collected his second World Cup win in three days, and the fourth win for the Swiss this season, with a scintillating come from behind win in the Birds of Prey giant slalom. Having collected his first career win in the combined here Nov. 29, Albrecht unseated teammate and first run leader Didier Cuche — nine years his senior — for the win, while Austrian Mario Matt snuck in between for second place.
American Ted Ligety had a strong day, to tie Italian GS Massimiliano Blardone for fourth place, and take over first in the World Cup Giant Slalom standings.
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Somebody woke up the Swiss. Daniel Albrecht collected his second World Cup win in three days, and the fourth win for the Swiss this season, with a scintillating come-from-behind win in the Birds of Prey giant slalom. Having collected his first career win in the combined here Nov. 29, Albrecht unseated teammate and first run leader Didier Cuche — nine years his senior — for the win, while Austrian Mario Matt snuck in between for second place.
American Ted Ligety had a strong day, to tie Italian GS Massimiliano Blardone for fourth place, and take over first in the World Cup giant slalom standings.
The Canadians were also impressive with John Kucera finishing sixth and Francois Bourque ninth. American Erik Schlopy, despite switching his equipment two weeks before the race, managed points in 21st.
"I'm kinda happy," said Ligety, who might have expected more. His first podium came at Beaver Creek in December 2005 and he had been second in the only other GS this season, held in October at Soelden, Austria.
"Fourth place is a tough pill to swallow," he said. "It wasn't too bad, I guess. I don’t know how many fourth places I got last year [three] and it's not that much fun."
The win for Albrecht, combined with a win in Lake Louise by Martina Schild gave the Swiss their first double win day since Jan. 6, 2001, when Sonja Nef won a GS at Maribor and Michael VonGruenigen a GS at Les Arc. The Swiss have already won twice as many races any of the last six seasons.
THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men's Giant Slalom, Beaver Creek, Colo., Dec. 2, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Albrecht, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Matt, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
3 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
4 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Blardone, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Kucera, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Reichelt, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Bourque, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Gruber, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10 Fanara, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
Men's Giant Slalom, Beaver Creek, Colo., Dec. 2, 2007. … It is the seventh race of the men's 41 events 2007-08 World Cup schedule. … It is the second of eight scheduled giant slaloms. … It is the 32nd Cup race held at Beaver Creek. … It is just the fifth Cup GS at Beaver Creek. … It is the third of four races scheduled for Beaver Creek, with the super G, originally scheduled Dec. 1, now set for Dec. 3. … Race held under clear skies with fresh snow.
It is the second career win for Daniel Albrecht. … And his second in four days having also won the combined at Beaver Creek Nov. 29. … His next best GS result is 11th, also from Beaver Creek, Dec. 4, 2004. .. It is his fifth scoring result of the season, but beyond the wins the next best is 22nd. … He has scored in all five disciplines. … He was 11th after the first run.
It is the 24th career World Cup podium for Mario Matt. … It is his first GS podium, with his next best GS result being 11th (scored twice, at Beaver Creek Dec. 3, 2005 and Kranjska Gora March 3, 2007). … It is the fourth podium of the season for the Austrian men. … It is the 38th World Cup podium for Austria at Beaver Creek… He was 10th after the first run.
It is the 33rd career World Cup podium for Didier Cuche. … His sixth in GS. … He has three podiums this season, all of them third place results. … They have come in three different disciplines (SG Lake Louise Nov. 25, DH Beaver Creek Nov. 30 and GS Dec. 2). … It is the first time the Swiss had two winners in the same day (Martina Schild SG Lake Louise) since Jan. 6, 2002. … Cuche had been the first run leader.
It is the 11th time Ted Ligety has placed fourth or better in a World Cup race. … Three of those have come at Beaver Creek. … It is the fourth best career World Cup result or John Kucera and his second best in GS. … He had been fifth at Alta Badia Dec. 17, 2006. … It is the 13th career top 10 for Francois Bourque. … The 12th in GS. … It is the 59th career scoring result for Erik Schlopy. … His first since March 4, 2006 (8th Yongpyong).
First points for Frenchman Cyprien Richard (24th).
Winning margin is .05 of a second. … Top 13 skiers are with a second. … Top 27 within two seconds. … Didier Cuche holds the overall lead in the overall standings 235-234 over Aksel Lund Svindal (injured). … Daniel Albrecht is third overall at 222pts… Ted Ligety is the top North American in fifth at 162. … And Bode Miller (did not qualify) is sixth at 157. … Ligety takes over control of the GS standings 130-109 over Albrecht with Svindal third at 100. … Austria maintains it's lead in the men's Nations Cup standings 1169-908 over Switzerland. … The USA is third at 640. … Italy fourth at 545 and Canada fifth at 427.
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 11 | 510993 | ALBRECHT Daniel | 1983 | SUI | 1:14.11 | 1:10.19 | 2:24.30 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 20 | 5070 7 |
MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 1:14.07 | 1:10.28 | 2:24.35 | 0.30 |
| 3 | 3 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 1:13.06 | 1:11.35 | 2:24.41 | 0.67 |
| 4 | 6 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 1:13.66 | 1:10.79 | 2:24.45 | 0.91 |
| 4 | 2 | 292000 | BLARDONE Massimiliano | 1979 | ITA | 1:13.18 | 1:11.27 | 2:24.45 | 0.91 |
| 6 | 10 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 1:13.74 | 1:10.77 | 2:24.51 | 1.28 |
| 7 | 22 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | 1:13.92 | 1:10.87 | 2:24.79 | 2.99 |
| 8 | 7 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 1:13.59 | 1:11.27 | 2:24.86 | 3.42 |
| 9 | 4 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 1:14.11 | 1:10.77 | 2:24.88 | 3.54 |
| 10 | 17 | 50451 | GRUBER Christoph | 1976 | AUT | 1:13.86 | 1:11.04 | 2:24.90 | 3.66 |
| 10 | 13 | 191750 | FANARA Thomas | 1981 | FRA | 1:14.67 | 1:10.23 | 2:24.90 | 3.66 |
| 12 | 12 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 1:13.59 | 1:11.44 | 2:25.03 | 4.45 |
| 13 | 18 | 51005 | SCHEIBER Mario | 1983 | AUT | 1:14.59 | 1:10.48 | 2:25.07 | 4.70 |
| 14 | 16 | 50423 | MAIER Hermann | 1972 | AUT | 1:14.52 | 1:10.87 | 2:25.39 | 6.65 |
| 15 | 24 | 50600 | GOERGL Stephan | 1978 | AUT | 1:14.47 | 1:10.93 | 2:25.40 | 6.71 |
| 15 | 19 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 1:14.12 | 1:11.28 | 2:25.40 | 6.71 |
| 17 | 40 | 180534 | SANDELL Marcus | 1987 | FIN | 1:14.83 | 1:10.59 | 2:25.42 | 6.83 |
| 18 | 43 | 511313 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:14.93 | 1:10.50 | 2:25.43 | 6.89 |
| 19 | 9 | 190677 | CHENAL Joel | 1973 | FRA | 1:14.24 | 1:11.24 | 2:25.48 | 7.20 |
| 20 | 15 | 292120 | SIMONCELLI Davide | 1979 | ITA | 1:14.53 | 1:10.98 | 2:25.51 | 7.38 |
| 21 | 25 | 530703 | SCHLOPY Erik | 1972 | USA | 1:14.46 | 1:11.08 | 2:25.54 | 7.56 |
| 22 | 27 | 560406 | GORZA Ales | 1980 | SLO | 1:14.31 | 1:11.34 | 2:25.65 | 8.23 |
| 23 | 30 | 420148 | KARLSEN Truls Ove | 1975 | NOR | 1:14.65 | 1:11.08 | 2:25.73 | 8.72 |
| 24 | 39 | 191423 | RICHARD Cyprien | 1979 | FRA | 1:14.91 | 1:11.05 | 2:25.96 | 10.12 |
| 25 | 28 | 291768 | ROBERTO Alessandro | 1977 | ITA | 1:14.66 | 1:11.31 | 2:25.97 | 10.18 |
| 26 | 44 | 501026 | RAINER Niklas | 1983 | SWE | 1:14.70 | 1:11.46 | 2:26.16 | 11.34 |
| 27 | 31 | 500656 | LARSSON Markus | 1979 | SWE | 1:14.91 | 1:11.38 | 2:26.29 | 12.14 |
| 28 | 36 | 191227 | BURTIN Raphael | 1977 | FRA | 1:14.90 | 1:13.05 | 2:27.95 | 22.26 |
| 29 | 14 | 292250 | SCHIEPPATI Alberto | 1981 | ITA | 1:14.69 | 1:29.17 | 2:43.86 | 119.28 |
 |
Did not finish 1st run : KEPPLER Stephan (GER), SASAKI Akira (JPN), STAUDACHER Patrick (ITA), OLSSON Hans (SWE), MYHRE Lars Elton (NOR), VALENCIC Mitja (SLO), OLSSON Matts (SWE), ROY Jean-Philippe (CAN), SPENCER Dane (USA), MISSILLIER Steve (FRA), DEFAGO Didier (SUI), PALANDER Kalle (FIN)
Did not finish 2nd run : SCHOENFELDER Rainer (AUT)
Did not qualify 1st run : KOSTELIC Ivica (CRO), HUDEC Jan (CAN), RUOPPA Jonne (FIN), GINI Marc (SUI), SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG), INNERHOFER Christof (ITA), JANSRUD Kjetil (NOR), NEUREUTHER Felix (GER), RAJALA Jukka (FIN), BARRETT Scott (CAN), VAJDIC Bernard (SLO), HOFER Beni (SUI), COVILI Frederic (FRA), BANK Ondrej (CZE), JITLOFF Tim (USA), ZAMANSKY Jake (USA), FREY Thomas (FRA), EISATH Florian (ITA), SCHOERGHOFER Philipp (AUT), NYMAN Steven (USA), GRANGE Jean-Baptiste (FRA), GUAY Erik (CAN), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE), LANZINGER Matthias (AUT), BUECHEL Marco (LIE), MILLER Bode (USA)
About the Author: Pete Rugh
