Razzoli pounces on Zagreb slalom win as Herbst falters

The Italian slalom skiers pounced on the opportunity as Giuliano Razzoli and Manfred Moelgg grabbed first and second in the men’s night slalom at Zagreb, Croatia Wednesday (Jan. 6) when first run leader Reinfried Herbst had an error at the worst possible place on the Crveni Spust course and dropped to fifth. Frenchman Julien Lizeroux took third with a smooth, smart, second run.

Razzoli, 24, was estatic with his win. “My first victory. I am happy. It is incredible for me,” he said in elation at the finish. “Fantastic day, fantastic slope, fantastic people. Last year was podium and today victory, It is incredible for me.”

Canadian Michael Janyk, 16th after the first run, put down the fastest second run of the day to jump up to sixth behind Herbst. The Canadians pushed four skiers into the points. Behind Janyk, Patrick Biggs finished 17th, Julian Cousineau 18th and Brad Spence 22nd.

Jimmy Cochran was the lone finisher for the U.S. and after struggling through a first course that broke up before he ran in good fashion, he was charging in the second heat and had his skis slide out beneath him, sending him sliding on his hip off the course. He popped up quickly and got back into the course, but lost a massive amount of time and wound up 25th.

Ted Ligety was a first run DNF and Bode Miller skipped the race.

Herbst came into the second run with a lead of more than a half second, but got caught in the backseat at the bottom of the upper steep, dumping all of his speed. While he managed to stay on the course and did seem to be generating speed toward the bottom he registered the 24th second run, sliding to fifth. Herbst had won the previous two slaloms of the season.

For Janyk, his second best result of the season was satisfying. “In the first run I was a little mad at myself for making some mistakes that I shouldn’t have,” he said. “I laid it all completely on the line in the second run and ended up with the best time. … So I am pretty satisfied with the result, but mostly it just makes you hungry for the next race, that’s for sure.”

With five more slaloms scheduled between now and the end of January, there’s plenty to be hungry for.

Razzoli photo by GEPA

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men’s Slalom (night) Zagreb, Croatia, Jan. 6, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Razzoli, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Lizeroux, Dynastar/Lange/Look
4 Valencic, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
5 Herbst, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
6 Janyk, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Hargin, Nordica/Nordica/
8 Matt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Missillier, Dynastar/Lange/Look

Men’s slalom, Zagreb, Croatia, Jan 6, 2010. … It is the 16th race of the men’s 35 race 2010 World Cup schedule. … The third of nine scheduled slaloms and the first of six slated for January. … It is the ninth World Cup race to be held at Zagreb, a rare urban race site. … Just the third men’s race at the site.

It is the first career World Cup win for Guiliano Razzoli and his third career podium, the second at Zagreb. … He has just 11 scoring World Cup results, all in slalom. … It is his second scoring result of the season, the previous a sixth at Alta Badia Dec. 21. … It was the second win of the season for Italy, the other coming from Massimiliano Blardone at Alta Badia is GS Dec. 20.

It is the 14th career World Cup podium for Manfred Moelgg, his first at Zagreb. … He matches his sister Manuela for the top result of the season for the family.

It is the fifth career World Cup podium for Julien Lizeroux, the first time he has finished third. … It is his first podium of the season. … It is the tenth French podium of the season, the fifth in slalom.

Michael Janyk matches his fifth best career result in sixth. … It is his second best result of the season having placed fifth in the Alta Badia slalom. … Patrick Biggs matches his fourth best career result and his best since 2005, all in slalom. … His career best is tenth, accomplished twice, both in January of 2005. … Julien Cousineau matches his sixth best career result of a dozen career scoring finishes. … It is his second best result of the season after finishing 17th in the Alta Badia slalom. … It is the third career Cup scoring result for Brad Spence, his second of the season. … All three have come since the first of March last season. … It is the 20th best or 25 career scoring results for Jimmy Cochran. … It is his third score of the season, all coming in slalom.

Benjamin Raich (11th in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 589-577 over Carlo Janka (did not race) . … Didier Cuche (did not race) sits third at 481pts. … Ted Ligety (DNF in race) is the top American overall at seventh with 317. … Manuel Osborne-Paradis (did not race) leads the Canadians overall in ninth place with 268pts.

Reinfried Herbst (5th in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup slalom standings 245-141 over Lizeroux. … Razzoli moves to third at 140. … Janyk leads North Americans in sixth with 103pts. … Cochran leads the U.S. skiers in 16th with 47pts.

Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup standings 2466-2194 over Switzerland. … Italy is third at 1707. … Canada sits fifth at 893 and the U.S. sixth at 822.