It wouldn't be the Hahnenkamm without a hint of controversy, which the race jury provided by deciding the first run course set by Ante   Kostelic was “unskiable,” and assigned a new course setter, Jacques  Theolier, who is as French as his name indicates, but coaches for Italy.

The Italians did control the first run. The second run was owned by Marcel Hirscher.

Hirscher became the first Austrian since Manfred Pranger in 2005 to win the Hahnenkamm slalom at Kitzbuehel, and he did it emphatically.

With Wengen winner Felix Neureuther in the leader's position (and Ante's son Ivica in second) Hirscher attacked the always tricky Ganslern slope at the edge of the Kitzbuehel village streets. He was, as he has been all season, superb. He took risks all the way down the fan lined track building his .38 of a second first run lead at the start at every interval, taking the lead away by .77. He knew he had done something special and screamed in delight in the finish.

Hirscher's joy was unheard by most due to the roar of the tens of thousands of mostly Austrian fans. But there were still two Italians - Olympic champ Guiliano Razzoli and Stefano Gross - waiting to start. The crowd hushed.

Razzoli was holding nothing back but got twisted, struggled to hold on to the course, and dropped to a fourth place finish.

Gross started losing time to Hirscher, but held the lead through two interval timers. He was slightly behind when he got set off balance by the Ganslern terrain. At that moment, the crowd erupted, again, into cheers. All was right in Kitzbuehel. An Austrian had won.

It was Hirscher's 12th podium in 13 World Cup scoring results this season and his four slalom win. He recorded the fastest second run. Neureuther held on for second and Kostelic third.

The other good news for Austria was the fifth place finish (behind Razzoli) of Benjamin Raich. He had been 25th after the first run and was second only to Hirscher in the second run.

Michael Janyk got his best result of the season in 14th and David Chodounsky finished 21st. Ted Ligety, Will Brandenburg, Julien Cousineau, Trevor White and Andrew Weibrecht all failed to finish the first run. Travis Ganong did not finish the second.

Kostelic won the combined by one and a quarter seconds over Alexis Pinturault, the 15th place finisher in the slalom. Thomas Mermillod Blondin took third. There were just ten finishers. Aksel Svindal posted fifth giving him a total of 174 points for the weekend (first in super G and ninth in downhill) and gaining ground on World Cup overall leader Hirscher. Svindal trails by 114pts, 1035-921.

Gepa photo

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee

Men's World Cup slalom and combined, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 27, 2013
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
Slalom
1 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
3 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Razzoli, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Thaler, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7 Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
8 Myhrer, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
9 Pranger, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Byggmark, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker

Combined
1 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Pinturault, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3 Mermillod Blondin, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Baumann, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
5 Svindal, Head/Head/Head
6 Jansrud, Head/Head/Head
7 Mayer, Head/Head/Head
8 Romar, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Bydlinski, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Men's World Cup slalom and combined, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 27, 2013. ... They are the 48th and 49th events of the 2012-13 World Cup schedule. ... and the finale of the 73rd Hahnenkamm. ... the 24th and 25th events of the men's 36 event World Cup schedule. ... the seventh of nine scheduled slaloms and second of two combineds. ... It is a classic combined, adding the times of Saturday's downhill with the outcome of the slalom. ... It is the 47th Cup slalom hosted by Kitzbuehel. ... The 36th combined hosted at least in part, by Kitzbuehel.

It is the 17th career World Cup win for Marcel Hirscher. ... his tenth in slalom. ... It is his fifth win and 12th podium of this season. ... It is his first win at Kitzbuhel having placed fourth twice before (2009 and 2011.

It is the 20th career World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther. ... his 16th in slalom. ... It is his second podium at Kitzbuehel having won the slalomin 2010. ... It is his sixth podium of the season. ... fourth in slalom. ... 11 of his 12 scoring results this season are top 10 finishes.

It is the 55th career World Cup podium for Ivica Kostelic. ... his 38th in slalom. ... It is his fourth career slalom podium at Kitzbuehel. ... It is his third podium of the season and third since Jan. 18.

It is the seventh scoring finish in a Kitzbuehel slalom for Michael Janyk. ... His second score of the season. ... It is the seventh career scoring result for David Chodounsky all in slalom. ... his fourth of the season.

The combined is the 25th career World Cup victory for Ivica Kostelic (30th DH, 3rd SL). ... his ninth in combined and his fourth consecutive in combined at Kitzbuehel (2010, 2011, 2012&2013). ... It is the 11th career Cup podium for Alexis Pinturault (33rd DH, 15th SL) ... his third in combined. ... It is the third career Cup podium for Thomas Mermillod Blondin, (35th DH, 20th SL) all of them coming in combined.

Hirscher leads the World Cup overall standings 1035-921 over Aksel Lund Svindal (fifth in cmb). ... Ted Ligety (DNF SL) is third with 736pts. ... Erik Guay is top Canadian in 14th with 364pts. ... Hirscher leads the slalom standings 700-566 over Neureuther. ... Andre Myhrer (eighth in slalom) is third with 362pts. ... Ligety leads US skiers in 16th with 130pts and Janyk leads Canadian skiers in 39th with 23pts. ... Austria leads the men's Nations Cup 4157-2923 over Italy. ... France is third with 2378pts. ... The US is sixth with 1252pts and Canada eighth with 750pts.

Kitzbuehel (AUT)
FIS World Cup
Men's Combined
Jan 27, 2013

Kitzbuehel (AUT)
FIS World Cup
Men's Slalom
Jan 27, 2013