Kranjska Gora: Moelgg wins, focus goes to SL title

When Benjamin Raich skied out in the first run of the Kranjska Gora slalom and Bode Miller elected not to start the drama of the chase for the World Cup overall trophy was removed from the equation, leaving the battle for the slalom crown alone in the spotlight.
    With third ranked Manfred Moelgg leading after the first run, fourth ranked Ivica Kostelic sitting third and slalom standings leader Jean-Baptiste Grange in fourth it was apparent to all the race would unfold with a crescendo. No body told Marcel Hirscher he wasn't invited to the party.
    The newly crowned World Junior Champion muscled his way to the front of the pack and waited for the best in the business to work past him. In the end Moelgg was just too strong and collected the win, his first after a disheartening series of podiums. Kostelic just squeeked ahead of Hirscher into second but Hirscher, making his 10th World Cup start, got his first World Cup podium.

When Benjamin Raich skied out in the first run of the Kranjska Gora slalom and Bode Miller elected not to start the drama of the chase for the World Cup overall trophy was removed from the equation, leaving the battle for the slalom crown alone in the spotlight.
    With third ranked Manfred Moelgg leading after the first run, fourth ranked Ivica Kostelic sitting third and slalom standings leader Jean-Baptiste Grange in fourth it was apparent to all the race would unfold with a crescendo. No body told Marcel Hirscher he wasn't invited to the party.
    The newly crowned World Junior Champion muscled his way to the front of the pack and waited for the best in the business to work past him. In the end Moelgg was just too strong and collected the win, his first after a disheartening series of podiums. Kostelic just squeeked ahead of Hirscher into second but Hirscher, making his 10th World Cup start, got his first World Cup podium.
    For Moelgg, with six podiums this season alone, the win was extremely welcome, not only getting that first win under his belt but also propelling him into contention for the slalom title. He moved past Mario Matt into second place and made up 50 points on Grange, trailing now by just 21 points. Matt finished 12th, losing ground to Kostelic as well.
    "It is my 50th slalom in World Cup and yesterday I was second. Today I win. Kranjska Gora is something special to me," said Moelgg. "A few gates before the finish line I almost flew out, so it was not a easy win. I am very happy."   
    Despite the podium finish, Kostelic trails Grange by 103 points in the slalom standings, meaning even with a win at Finals in Bormio he cannot catch the Frenchman. The battle is now between Grange, Moelgg and Matt. Grange will become the first Frenchman to win the slalom World Cup since Sebastien Amiez in 1996 if he finishes at least second in Bormio.
   "I am very satisfied and very glad that I can congratulate Moelgg on the podium for his first World Cup win," Kostelic said. "My condition is very good and I am not even unhappy that I did not win today. I still can do it in Bormio."
    Ted Ligety put down a quality second run and finished seventh for his sixth top 10 slalom result of the season.
    The race signaled the end of a chance at the overall title for Raich.
    "I'm a bit disappointed for sure," said Raich, who won the overall title in 2006. "In skiing … things can happen. For the overall, it's gone. I needed the 100 points today and they are not possible now," said Raich. "For Bormio, my goal is GS."
   
    — Patrick Lang and The Associated Press contibuted to this report  

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THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee 

Equipment
Men's Slalom, Kranjska-Gora, Slovenia, March 9, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Hirscher, Blizzard/Tecnica/
4 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
5 Herbst, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
6 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Deville, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
9 Lizeroux, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
10 Rocca, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
 
Men's slalom, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, March 9, 2008. … It is the 37th race of the men's 41 race 2008 World Cup schedule. … It is the 10th of 11 scheduled slaloms. … It is the 65th World Cup held at Kranjska Gora. … the 34th slalom and 29th men's slalom at the site. … It is the final race of the season with a full field.
    It is the first career win for Manfred Moelgg. … His 11th podium. … It is his third podium at Kranjska Gora and second in two days. … It is the ninth win of the season for Italy and he is the fifth skier to add to that total.
    It is the 22nd career World Cup podium for Ivica Kostelic. … His sixth of the season and third in slalom. … It is his third podium at Kranjska Gora but the first since 2003 when he won the slalom.
    It is the fifth career World Cup scoring result for Marcel Hirscher. … He recently won two gold medals at the World Junior Championships (Sl & GS) and is second overall on the Europa Cup.
    It is the 40th career World Cup top 10 for Ted Ligety. … His 15th this season.
    Winning margin is .41. … Top six are within a second. … Top 13 within two seconds. … No change at the top of the overall standings. … Bode Miller (did not start) leads by 169 with a 1387-1218 margin over Didier Cuche (did not start). … Benjamin Raich (did not finish first run) is third at 1123. … Manfred Moelgg moves into fourth past Ted Ligety. … Moelgg with 855 and Ligety 798. … Jean-Baptiste Grange (4th in race) hangs on to the lead of the slalom standings 512-491 for Moelgg. … Mario Matt (12th in race) is third at 427 and Ivica Kostelic third at 409. … With one race remaining Kostelic is officially eliminated from contention. … Austria leads the men's Nations Cup 6,461-3,763 over Switzerland. … Italy is third at 3,506 and the U.S. fourth at 3,080. … Canada is sixth behind France 2,210-1,923.

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Men's World Cup slalom — Kranjska Gora

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
&nb sp;1	3	292491	MOELGG Manfred	1982	ITA	52.43	49.86	1:42.29	0.00
2	5	380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	53.07	49.63	1:42.70	2.45
3	31	53831	HIRSCHER Marcel	1989	AUT	53.32	49.46	1:42.78	2.92
4	4	192665	GRANGE Jean-Baptiste	1984	FRA	53.12	49.72	1:42.84	3.28
5	10	50605	HERBST Reinfried	1978	AUT	52.74	50.19	1:42.93	3.82
6	2	201702	NEUREUTHER Felix	1984	GER	53.43	49.72	1:43.15	5.13
7	11	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	54.44	49.08	1:43.52	7.34
8	15	291145	DEVILLE Cristian	1981	ITA	53.29	50.27	1:43.56	7.57
9	9	191459	LIZEROUX Julien	1979	FRA	53.73	49.94	1:43.67	8.23
10	13	290478	ROCCA Giorgio	1975	ITA	53.81	50.06	1:43.87	9.42
11	17	510997	BERTHOD Marc	1983	SUI	54.01	49.87	1:43.88	9.48
12	6	50707	MATT Mario	1979	AUT	53.38	50.58	1:43.96	9.96
13	21	501017	MYHRER Andre	1983	SWE	54.13	50.06	1:44.19	11.33
14	35	301709	YUASA Naoki	1983	JPN	55.53	48.84	1:44.37	12.40
15	28	501111	HARGIN Mattias	1985	SWE	55.32	49.08	1:44.40	12.58
16	33	50981	HOERL Wolfgang	1983	AUT	55.28	49.20	1:44.48	13.06
17	24	560371	DRAGSIC Mitja	1979	SLO	54.56	49.96	1:44.52	13.30
18	27	192506	MISSILLIER Steve	1984	FRA	55.48	49.29	1:44.77	14.79
19	42	500909	ANDERSSON Oscar	1982	SWE	55.38	49.50	1:44.88	15.45
20	18	510993	ALBRECHT Daniel	1983	SUI	55.24	49.83	1:45.07	16.58
21	37	293098	RAZZOLI Giuliano	1984	ITA	55.18	50.01	1:45.19	17.29
22	25	500499	BROLENIUS Johan	1977	SWE	55.20	50.00	1:45.20	17.35
23	30	501116	LAHDENPERAE Anton	1985	SWE	54.88	50.44	1:45.32	18.07
24	43	511352	VILETTA Sandro	1986	SUI	55.14	50.19	1:45.33	18.13
25	34	92591	ALBRECHT Kilian	1973	BUL	54.80	50.77	1:45.57	19.56
26	45	910000	IMBODEN Urs	1975	MDA	55.13	56.25	1:51.38	54.21

Did not start 1st run: MILLER Bode (USA)

Did not finish 1st run: GORZA Ales (SLO), ROY Jean-Philippe (CAN), CAVIEZEL Mauro (SUI), INNERHOFER Christof (ITA), STEHLE Dominik (GER), MYHRE Lars Elton (NOR), SKUBE Matic (SLO), ANDERSSON Magnus (SWE), OMMINGER Andreas (AUT), LEINO Jukka (FIN), KARLSEN Truls Ove (NOR), VOGEL Markus (SUI), STUTZ Paul (CAN), TREJBAL Filip (CZE), THALER Patrick (ITA), RAICH Benjamin (AUT)

Did not finish 2nd run: KOLL Alexander (AUT), GINI Marc (SUI), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE)

Disqualified 1st run: MINAGAWA Kentaro (JPN)

Disqualified 2nd run: LARSSON Markus (SWE)

Did not qualify 2nd run: ZRNCIC-DIM Natko (CRO), HAUG Kristian (NOR), ZAVIRSEK Matija (SLO), DI RONCO Jacopo (ITA), HOROSHILOV Alexandr (RUS), SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG), BAXTER Alain (GBR), IKUTA Yasuhiro (JPN), VRABLIK Martin (CZE), BECHTER Patrick (AUT), OBERT Anthony (FRA), ANSELMET Alexandre (FRA), BAUMANN Romed (AUT), MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas (FRA), JANSRUD Kjetil (NOR), PAQUIN Pierre (FRA), CHENAL Joel (FRA), KRYZL Krystof (CZE), VALENCIC Mitja (SLO), HANSSON Martin (SWE), JANYK Michael (CAN), COCHRAN Jimmy (USA), SASAKI Akira (JPN), SCHOENFELDER Rainer (AUT), VAJDIC Bernard (SLO)