Rahlves claims a first super-G win
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Jubilant Rahlves celebrates his win
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KITZBUEHEL, Austria (Reuters) -- Daron Rahlves won his first World Cup super-G race on Friday, holding off a trio of charging Austrians.
Rahlves, who last year became the first American to win the famous Kitzbuehel downhill, produced a faultless run to win in one minute 23.08 seconds.
Austria's Hermann Maier was a fraction behind in 1:23.11, closely followed by downhill world champion Michael Walchhofer (1:23.47) and Andreas Schifferer (1:23.52).
"This is awesome, just awesome," a beaming Rahlves said of his sixth World Cup victory.
"It was really tough today. Kitzbuehel is not only the hardest downhill but also the toughest super-G. It was a great run.
"I've come fourth here a lot of times, so I knew I had the speed, but there was also a bit of luck involved," he added.
The former world jet-ski champion evidently thrives on the challenging courses at Kitzbuehel, home to the legendary Hahnenkamm downhill which is scheduled for Saturday.
Third in Thursday's substitute downhill from Bormio, he won the Hahnenkamm downhill last year, came third two years previously and notched up two fourth places in the super-G.
"I'm ready to rock -- things are just getting better and better for me," the American said looking ahead to the showcase downhill.
"I was really aggressive and fighting all the way down so I don't know where I'll get the energy for tomorrow."
Mistake costs Maier
Maier won the super-G last year -- a victory that crowned his return to the top of the sport after a life-threatening motorcycle accident.
The Austrian said he lost out this time for wanting victory too much on the unforgiving slope that is riddled with sharp turns and jumps.
"I was going too hard and was punished for being impatient. I took the Hausberg traverse too directly and certainly lost half a second there," the super-G champion from the Nagano Olympics said.
"Of course it hurts to lose out by so close a margin, but such a mistake should not happen to an old fox like me," the 31-year-old said.
Maier can nevertheless take comfort from the fact that he still leads the World Cup standings in super-G after having reached the podium in each of the last four races.
Overall World Cup leader Lasse Kjus, winner of Thursday's downhill, came fifth behind Schifferer, while Stephan Eberharter, second behind Kjus in the downhill, was ninth.
