Raich sweeps to giant slalom glory
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Raich gained more than half a second on his second run
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| GIANT SLALOM RESULTS |
1. Benjamin Raich (Aut) 2:22.54
2. M. Blardone (Ita) 2:23.24
3. Bjarne Solbakken (Nor) 2:23.36
4. Christoph Gruber (Aut) 2:23.46
5. Lasse Kjus (Nor) 2:23.47
6. Aksel Lund Svindal (Nor) 2:23.92
7. Davide Simoncelli (Ita) 2:23.98
8. Heinz Schilchegger (Aut) 2:24.05
9= Manfred Moelgg (Ita) 2:24.18
9= Christian Mayer (Aut) 2:24.18 |
| OVERALL STANDINGS |
1. Hermann Maier (Aut) 515
2. Hans Knauss (Aut) 440
3. Lasse Kjus (Nor) 438
4. Benjamin Raich (Aut) 419
5. Bjarne Solbakken (Nor) 383
6. Michael Walchhofer (Aut) 376
7. Andreas Schifferer (Aut) 371
8. Stephan Eberharter (Aut) 358
9. Kalle Palander (Fin) 349
10. Bode Miller (U.S.) 337 |
| GIANT SLALOM STANDINGS |
1. Bode Miller (U.S.) 310
2. Kalle Palander (Fin) 249
3. Benjamin Raich (Aut) 234
4. Davide Simoncelli (Fra) 216
5. Frederic Covili (Fra) 190
6. M. Blardone (Ita) 186
7. Andreas Schifferer (Aut) 174
8. Arnold Rieder (Ita) 154
9. Lasse Kjus (Nor) 141
10. Hans Knauss (Aut) 138 |
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FLACHAU, Austria -- Benjamin Raich saved the day for Austria by claiming his first World Cup win of the season in Saturday's giant slalom on Flachau's Hermann Maier course.
Raich gained more than half a second on first leg leader Massimiliano Blardone to push the Italian into second place and ensure home celebrations.
Norway's Bjarne Solbakken was third while local hero Maier failed to qualify for the second run on the course named in his honor.
Giant slalom leader Bode Miller of the United States also failed to pick up points, crashing out on the second leg after recording the third quickest time on the first run.
Raich earned his 11th career World Cup victory with a combined time of two minutes 22.54 seconds, 0.70 seconds quicker than Blardone who still enjoyed the first podium finish of his career.
Just a dream
"I like this hill. It's just a dream," said Raich.
"I felt very good and was pretty relaxed. I knew I had to be patient -- I was always mixing in at the top -- and thank God it worked out for me today.
"I'm very pleased because my fans have also been waiting a long time and a lot of people came to see me race today."
Maier could only manage 50th place on his first run, but still leads the overall standings by 75 points from teammate Hans Knauss.
"I didn't find my rhythm at all. It was a fight from top to bottom," said the former double Olympic and world champion who comes from this Salzburg ski resort.
"I slipped on my ski boot and that was it."
Maier admitted the pressure of racing at home had also been a distraction.
"I've been very solicited since arriving here," said Maier.
"I know all the course workers and gate keepers and during yesterday's inspection, they all wanted to talk to me, to wish me luck. It was difficult to focus on the task at hand, and hard to finish my inspection within the time allowed."
