Blardone rolls to Alta Badia win

Don’t rule the Italians out of anything.

Giant slalom specialist Massimiliano Blardone got his first win since 2007 and teammate Davide Simoncelli his first podium since 2006 in taking second for a home country one-two finish of the Alta Badia GS Sunday (Dec. 20).

It could have been better as Manfred Moelgg sat third after the first run, but lost ground in the second to finish fifth. Frenchman Cyprien Richard got the third place slot, a massive 1.63 seconds off Blardone’s pace and Austrian Benjamn Raich, with an excellent second run moved from 13th to fourth.

No one, though, could top Blardone who won both runs to dust his running mate by .43 of a second. After crossing the finish he stepped out of his bindings and sprawled on the finish area snow, then stood and received the adulation of the home crowd.

“For Italia,” said Blardone, “It is one day special. … And for tomorrow. … “

Alta Badia has been a mainstay of the men’s GS scheduled since the late 1980’s. Monday’s race will be just the third slalom held at the site.

The day was a minor disaster for the top end of the U.S. squad. Bode Miller failed to qualify for a second run for the first time since the opening of the 2007 season and Ted Ligety, who said he had “been doing a lot of puking the last couple of days,” struggled in the opening heat. He closed to finish seventh, two seconds off the winning pace and behind two more Italians, Moelgg in fifth and Alexander Ploner in sixth.

“This hill is really tough and this year it is so icy,” Ligety said. “The first run I think a lot of guys were taken by surprise. I, for sure, was one guy.” He said he switched skis to a bigger edge and more hold for the second run but never got in sync with the hill.

“I just couldn’t ski clean either run. I had a good middle section in the second run, but it’s just really hard to get a rhythm going with a hill this steep and this technical.”

At the bottom of the U.S. start order the news was very good. Tommy Ford got his first World Cup points in 24th place, earning another start spot for the team in the process.

“That was unbelievable,” said coach Sasha Rearick. “His first season on the World Cup, his first time to Alta Badia; to come down and ski two solid runs, get points, get us another GS start (up to six). I am so fired up for him. Awesome job by Tommy Ford.”

Ford said the annual race at Alta Badia has always been one of his favorites to watch back home in Oregon, “This is my favorite race,” he said. “To finally ski the hill; it’s unbelievable.” He said he felt like he “had finally got my head under control,” and said not that he knows he can be competitive “I can get in there and charge.”

The hill at Alta Badia, the Gran Risa, is a classic. It is steep, dark, and ladened with side hills and difficult angles. Few racers looked comfortable on course despite the usual superb preparation. Blardone said the first run, in particular, had some small stones on course and many skiers were throwing the skis sideways in order to make gates. That was likely also the fate of Tim Jitloff, who Rearick said was having an excellent run. “Jit found his gear today,” the coach said. “He had some really, really bad luck, caught something and it pushed his ski on the wrong side of the gate,” for a first run disqualification.

The win marked the tenth time an Italian has won of their home hill. Blardone was also the last in 2005 and Simoncelli took the prize in 2003.

Halfway through the men’s GS schedule Raich leads the standings ahead of Carlo Janka who had a bad day, finishing 18th. Ligety sits third.

Swiss skier Sandro Viletta collapsed in the finish area after the first run as his hand was being attended to after striking a gate. He was taken from the finish arena on a stretcher, but returned to compete in the second run. – Hank McKee

Click here for an image gallery of the race.

Blardone photo by GEPA

Equipment
Men’s Giant Slalom, Alta Badia, Italy, Dec. 20, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Blardone, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
2 Simoncelli, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3 Richard, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Ploner, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Jansrud, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Cuche, Head/Head/Head

Men’s GS Alta Badia, Italy, Dec. 20, 2009. … It is the 13th race of the men’s 35 race 2009-2010 World Cup schedule. … the fourth of seven scheduled giant slaloms. … It is the 28th Cup race at Alta Badia, the 26th GS. … Alberto Tomba holds the site win record at four. … The site has been a staple on the circuit since the late 1980’s.

It is the fifth career World Cup win for Massimiliano Blardone. … all in GS. … It is his first win since Dec. 8, 2007 at Bad Kleinkirchheim. … He won Alta Badia in December 2005.  … It is his second podium result of the season having placed 2nd at Val d’Isere’s GS Dec. 13.

It is the sixth World Cup podium for Davide Simoncelli (all in GS) and his first since winning Yongpyong in 2006. … It is the fourth time he has been second at Alta Badia and he won the race Dec. 21, 2003. … He was eighth and ninth in GS previously this season.

It is the second career World Cup podium for Cyprien Richard the other also a third place finish, also in GS, at Bormio in 2008. … His previous best at Alta Badia had been 12th in 2007. … His best previous result this season had been a top 10 aat Soelden.

It is the 55th career Cup top 10 for Ted Ligety. … His sixth in seven completed races this season. … Seventh matches his fifth best showing in seven races at Alta Badia. … His two Alta Badia podiums have both come in slalom, not GS. … It is the first World Cup scoring result for Tommy Ford. … It was his fourth start, the first coming at Soelden in October.

Raich holds the overall lead 565-553 over Carlo Janka (18th in race) … Didier Cuche (10th in race) is third at 436. … Ligety in top American at sixth with 317. …Manuel Osborne-Paradis the top Canadian in ninth with 242. … Raich holds the GS lead 235-230 over Blardone.