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Alta Badia, men’s giant slalom 2

First victory for Davide Simoncelli

Alta Badia (Italy) 21./12/2003. After finishing twice in a row 2nd on the demanding “Gran Risa” course in the last two races, Italy’s Davide Simoncelli finally won this prestigious giant slalom after two almost perfect runs.

The 24-yeard-old champion from Rovereto, near Trento, beat last week’s winner Kalle Palander by 1.03 seconds while USA’s Bode Miller, the 2002 champion here, was 3r at 1.21 seconds. It was the first Italian victory in Alta BAdia since the last triumph of Alberto Tomba in December 1994. The last Italian to have won a giant slalom was Patrick Holzer in Kranjska Gora four years ago.

Four other Italian ended among the top-15 confirming the strength of the team in this specialty. Massimiliano Blardone, the fastest in the second leg, came in 4th, Arnold Rieder 7th, Alberto Schieppati 8th an Alexander Ploner, the Winstar of the race, 12th despite his bib 46!

On the other hand, only one Austrian, Benjamin Raich (5th) reached th top-10 this time.

While Lasse Kjus, 9th, scored some more points, Stephan Eberharter didn’t qualify for the second run. Hermann Maier, who seemed very tired, was a far 26th at 4.64 seconds. Yet he keeps a strong lead in the Overall Standings with an advance of 82 points on Hans Knauss, 16th today. Kjus is 3rd with a delay of 122 points and Bode Miller 8th at 178 points!

The American is a strong leader in the specialty standings after this fourth giant slalom; he scored a total of 310 points so far, 61 more than Palander and 120 more than France’s Frédéric Covili, who didn’t finish the first run. He suffers from his left knee and a trainer will drive him to Lyon for further examination.

Three podiums for Davide in Alta Badia

There is a true low story between the famous “Grand Risa” slope and Simoncelli who couldn’t score any other top-10 place on another slope. He was 15th last season in Park City but he never excelled anywhere else.
“I feel very confident when I race here because the slope is perfect for me with its steep start” he explained after the race. “I like to attack from the first to the last gate!”

“I always found my rhythm here and I have no problem to be immediately very aggressive. On other courses, the start is often too flat for me and I get bored. Today I started for the first time in the first seed and I tried to take advantage of the excellent race conditions. Yet I was astonished to clock the fastest time. Normally I attack from behind. It was much more difficult today. I was nervous before my second run. I’m not used to wait so long at the start of the second run. In fact, I did some mistakes in the first gates and this awaked me immediately. I skied better afterwards and I took great risks until the finish line”.

“The atmosphere in the finish area was incredible. It was so noisy, then Alberto Tomba, who I admire so much, came to congratulate me and make a life interview for the Italian TV. It enjoyed it a lot and I felt very relaxed. From now on I hope to ski better in other courses. Yet I believe than some of my team-mates will also fight hard for victory. I don’t consider myself as the leader of the team. Both Blardone or Rieder are more experienced and more consistent than me and both can win in the coming weeks”.

A nice break for Kalle

In reaching his second consecutive podium in one week, Palander confirmed his strong form in that specialty. The Finish champion is now fighting for victory in the World Cup standings in both technical events.
“It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium today” he said. “The conditions were much more demanding today, the snow was really icy. You needed to ski with much power. I made some mistakes at the top, but I don’t believe that I could have passed Simoncelli. He was really flying down the slope”.

Kalle also informed the media that he had a car crash on his way to Madonna di Campiglio last week but he doesn’t think it affected him before the slalom. “I was glad to get out of the destroyed car without a serious injury” he said. “At that point, you realize that there are more important things in life than winning races!”

“I will now take a nice break in Monte-Carlo where I will spend the Christmas Holidays for the first time. Usually I’m with my family in Finland but it’s a good way for me to relax this time. I’m tired as most of the other skiers. The competitions were very demanding this year”.

“Tomorrow I’ll buy a Christmas Tree which I’ll put in my apartment. It’s a great tradition in Finland. Then I’ll train to prepare the next races in Flachau which should be quite exciting. The January “Classics” are the highlights of the season for me”.

Maier ready for Bormio?

The next World Cup race is scheduled for next Sunday in Bormio, where the now traditional “New Year” downhill will take place for the tenth year. All the skiers will need the short Christmas break including the great Hermann Maier, who looked exhausted after his second run.

“I’m burned out, there is no more juice in me the four tough days in Val Gardena” he said. “I spent much energy in the last weeks and my batteries are really low now because I didn’t train enough in October and November. You need to be in great shape to race at your best week after week. I wonder how I did it in the past. As I said, this is only comeback season for me and I’m still far away from my best form”.
“Next year things should go better – it will be the comeback season of my comeback,” he added with a smile.

But in Bormio, where he won so many races in past years, no doubt that Hermann will try to imitate once more “The Herminator” on the treacherous Stelvio course.

Patrick Lang