Flachau, men’s giant slalom

Benjamin Raich wins again after long drought

Flachau, Austria, Jan.3rd – 2003. Two years after his last victory, Austria’s Benjamin Raich finally won another World Cup race in Flachau, near Salzburg, where the first race of the New Year took place in front of a huge crowd of 15,000 spectators.

The Tyrolean from Pitztal, who turns 26 next month, clearly dominated the second run to beat by 79/100 of a second Italy’s Massimiliano Blardone, who reached his first World Cup podium ever. He often came in 4th or 5th in recent years.

Norway’s Bjarne Soelbakken, who won a Super-G in Beaver Creek in December, was 3rd at 82/100. He moved up into 5th place in the overall standings.
It’s his best GS result on the tour.

His team-mate Lasse Kjus, faster than him at the intermediate time before making a mistake, was a disappointed 5th. The 1999 overall World Cup champion missed by only 11/100 his first giant slalom podium in many years – and he was quite upset by his performances in both runs. Yet he was by far the best among the top contenders for the overall World Cup title in this dramatic race.

A bad day for Hermann Maier & Co.

The current leader, Hermann Maier, racing for the first time on his own course – the “H.Maier World Cup Course” – only clocked the 50th best time in the first run after making a big mistake. Hans Knauss was a far 24th while Kalle Palander, the winner in Alta Badia, also failed to qualify for the second run. The Finnish champion too had his problems on the upper part of the first run.

Andreas Schifferer was 12th and Stephan Eberharter 15th after achieving a solid second run. Bode Miller, third in the morning, was the only skier to crash out in the second run after setting the best intermediate time. The reigning GS World Champion was on his way to another podium finish when he lost his balance in a tricky left turn and crashed out of the course.

The American missed a great opportunity to improve his position in the overall standings. He is now at a far 10th place – over hundred points behind Kjus and 188 behind Maier. Sunday’s slalom could be a turning point for him in his chase for the big Crystal globe.

11th win for Ben!

Benjamin Raich, one of the best slalom skiers since 1999, had to be patient in the past seasons. The 2001 slalom World Cup champion, who won several bronze and silver medals in the past winters, has not celebrated a World Cup victory since Kranjska Gora in December 2001. His collection of top-5 finishes helped him to remain in the first seed in both technical events.

In Flachau, where he already won a giant slalom in January 1999, he was finally able to achieve two solid runs in a row. “It was difficult because I was often skiing very well but I was not as consistent as I should be,” he said after the race. “Fortunately I remained confident and kept on training hard. I knew that my day will come back – it was just a matter of timing”.

“Apparently I felt very comfortable on this course on which I also finished 2nd during the 2002 Finals” Raich added. “There is always a great crowd which supports us very strongly. This win is important for my moral; it will help me to concentrate even more on the coming races. I also feel comfortable in slalom so I hope to have another good race tomorrow”.

Raich, who also competes in Super-G this season, is now in 4th place in the overall standings – he aims for a top-3. Last season, he was 8th in the finals standings but he is capable to improve his position. “I really enjoy competing in Super-G, it has been a great goal for me since many years” he said. “With three disciplines, I have a good chance to reach the best 3 in March”.

A great slalom race on Sunday

In Sunday’s slalom, some of the disappointed favourites as Palander or Miller will try to fight back and score more points. Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, supported by her sister Janica and his two parents, also seems ready for another great day. The reigning slalom champion, who clinched here his slalom World Cup title in March 2002, ended at a promising 16th place and achieved a nice comeback. Three weeks ago, he injured himself at a knee while wining a slalom in Madonna di Campiglio. He underwent an arthroscopic surgery in Schruns the next day and found back most of his form during the Christmas break. Kostelic missed by only a few tenths of a second another top-10 finish here. He was 9th in March 2002!

Also very motivated is Italy’s Giorgio Rocca, the leader in the standings and 2nd in Italy. The strong performances of his team-mates in today’s giant slalom will certainly inspire him a lot.

Patrick Lang