Palander, Zamansky finish on podium in NorAm GS

Italy's Alessandro Roberto blew past first-run leader Kalle Palander of Finland with a sizzling second run to win the opening giant slalom of the Super Series NorAm Cup on Monday at Keystone, Colorado.

ITALY'S ALESSANDRO ROBERTO blew past first-run leader Kalle Palander of Finland with a sizzling second run to win the opening giant slalom of the Super Series NorAm Cup on Monday at Keystone, Colorado.   
    The 29-year-old Roberto, who strung together four straight top 10s in Europa Cup giant slaloms last season and won a March FIS GS race in Italy, clocked a two-run total of 2 minutes, 16.24 seconds. Palander, who finished fifth in the World Cup GS standings last season, took a lead of 0.13 seconds into the second run but couldn’t hold off Roberto. Palander finished with a time of 2:16.35.
    Three U.S. Ski Team racers finished in the top 15, led by Jake Zamansky in third place (2:16.46). Zamansky is scheduled to race in the World Cup slalom and GS events later this week at Beaver Creek.
    Rounding out the top five were Canada’s Julien Cousineau (2:16.51) and Niklas Rainer of Sweden (2:16.57).
    Tim Jitloff, a U.S. C team member, clocked the fastest time in the second run by more than a half-second to finish in seventh place (2:17.02). The race was a great rebound for Jitloff, who aggravated a leg injury while training at Keystone earlier this month and had to return home to California to consult with his physician. Read the latest edition of Jit's Journal.
    U.S. C teamer Andrew Weibrecht finished 12th (1:07.99), Tom Rothrock was 19th and Roger Brown 20th.
    Reigning NorAm overall and giant slalom champion Zamansky was solid. "I think those are the two best runs I've seen Jake lay down in a race. He really skied with confidence and was looking good … and then ‘Jit' simply smoked that second run," U.S. men's slalom/GS coach Mike Morin said. "He had a training run [Sunday] that was smoking, too, and then he came out today and had a disappointing first run, not much passion … just not much going on for him. I talked with him between runs, reminded him about that run [Sunday]. Tim's coming off an injury [torn left ACL], so coming into a race day can be tougher … but he smoked that second run and moved up from 19th after the first run. Good for him."
    "For the past three years," Morin said, "our young guys have struggled on the first day of these Chevy Super Series races, but to see Jake and Tim and Andrew — and even Roger and Will Brandenberg — was really exciting … and a good start for the season. I'm fired up."
    Click here for full race results.   
    The men race a second NorAm GS on Tuesday. First run is scheduled for 10 a.m.