ALTA BADIA, Italy — Markus Larsson used a strong second run Monday to win a men's World Cup slalom while the American men extended a historic streak of podiums.
    The Swede, who was seventh after the opening run, covered the Gran Risa course in a combined time of 1 minute, 44.51 seconds for the second victory of his career.  
    Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety of the United States was second, 0.19 seconds behind, and Ivica Kostelic of Croatia was third, 0.48 back.

ALTA BADIA, Italy — Markus Larsson used a strong second run Monday to win a men's World Cup slalom while the American men extended a historic streak of podiums.
    The Swede, who was seventh after the opening run, covered the Gran Risa course in a combined time of 1 minute, 44.51 seconds for the second victory of his career.  
    Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety of the United States was second, 0.19 seconds behind, and Ivica Kostelic of Croatia was third, 0.48 back. Ligety gave the United States podiums in four straight men's races.
    American Jimmy Cochran was the second-fastest racer in the second run to take his second top 15 of the winter in 13th place.   
    Defending overall World Cup champion Benjamin Raich was third after the opening run but was disqualified for straddling a gate in the second leg.
    Austria's winless streak on the men's circuit has reached 11 races — the longest since 1991-92. Skiing's ''Wunderteam'' hasn't won since Raich took the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland, last month. No Austrians finished the race for the first time since a 1986 slalom in Bromont, Canada.
    The three slaloms this season have had three different winners and of the 12 races overall, Bode Miller, who crashed out in the first run Monday, is the only skier who has won twice.
    ''It's really exciting this season, and not just in slalom, with so many winners,'' Kostelic said.
    Larsson's first victory came in the slalom at the World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden, last season.
    ''My biggest goal this season is to be more consistent,'' said Larsson, the second Swede in a row to win in slalom following Andre Myhrer's victory in Beaver Creek, Colorado, two weeks ago. ''Our team is getting stronger and stronger. We've had a really good training program from our federation,'' Larsson said.
    Larsson finished second in Levi and has now has 180 points. Former leader Michael Janyk, who skied out in the second run, is next with 116.
    ''I wasn't really happy with my first run,'' Larsson said. ''Going into my second run, I thought it would be possible to get on the podium, but winning I wasn't really sure."
    Defending World Cup slalom champion Giorgio Rocca finished fourth and Kalle Palander, winner of Sunday's giant slalom, dropped down from second after the first leg to finish fifth.
    Aksel Lund Svindal was 20th and retained his lead in the overall World Cup standings. Bode Miller failed to finish the first run.   

Historic stretch for U.S. skiing
    Ligety's podium, his second of the season, marks the first time U.S. skiers have been on a World Cup podium in four alpine races in four days. U.S. men took five World Cup podiums a year ago — but they were in three straight races over three days. But never 4-for-4 … until Monday.
    Ligety, third in a giant slalom Dec. 2 at the Birds of Prey races in Beaver Creek, CO, had a two-run time of 1:44.70 while Cochran moved up 14 places, finishing in 1:45.47. After 12 World Cup races, three U.S. men are in the top seven in the overall points — Miller in third place, Ligety in fifth and Nyman in seventh.
    Ligety, hobbled earlier this season by a broken bone in his right hand, which made it tough for him to pole plant in slalom, was fourth in the first run Monday behind Tissot. His attacking first run set the stage for his podium as he skied methodically through the tough conditions on the final course.
    "My slalom's been a little bit of a struggle lately and I needed this boost of confidence. It's a really good day," Ligety said. "My hand's getting better every day. I still tape it up to keep it stable, but I'm even slowly getting to the point where I can make my pole plants" which can be so important in slalom.
    The Olympic combined gold medalist last February — also in Italy — said the surge by the U.S. men has been contagious. "It's awesome, especially with Nyman the other day. It was so cool to watch him. I've been skiing with him since I was 13 and to see him come through and get that first World Cup win definitely was awesome.
    "I think the team's got good momentum, especially when guys like Nyman and Marco [Sullivan, who was fourth Saturday in DH] do well. We expect Bode to do these things, and it's exciting. We get fired up when he does it, for sure, but I mean Nyman winning and Marco was injured for two years and now to come back and be fourth, just a hundredth [of a second] off the podium, is awesome," Ligety said.
    The first run saw tricky conditions, he explained, because of rain during the night and morning snowfall. "I went number five and the top was good but when I got to the bottom, it was already breaking down — there were two holds, and that only got worse. On the second run, though, the top was good and things held up better."

Cochran kills second run
    Cochran said, "I'm psyched with my second run. I kind of pushed it and it's paid off. The biggest thing was the course conditions. I'm having trouble in the ruts and though I started 27th [and was 27th] in the first, there were some big ruts. But I went fourth in the second and it was perfect and I could attack … even though when that sun's gone, there's no contrast" to spot tricky snow conditions.
    He praised the race crew for preparing a good course despite the lack of snowfall in so much of Europe. "They always do a good job here," Cochran said.
    Head coach Phil McNichol was understandably pleased with the parade of U.S. podiums in the Dolomites. "Two first, two seconds — pretty good show by the boys. That's a podium in every discipline, and that's epic," he said.
    "Ted was very solid today, a little disappointed he didn't win — he was going for the victory, as usual — but that'll come. And Jimmy had a great second run, which ought to help boost his confidence.
    "Conditions were really tough because it rained last night and then snowed a little bit," McNichol added, "and then we had a little bit for the first, so a little new snow on top of the rain makes that snow rough, and it was tough. Second run was much better because it was slipped off and the snow got to sit with the cold air on it."

Miller emerges with Super Trophy
    Miller hasn't won a slalom since Dec. 13,
2004, in Sestriere, Italy. The last time he finished a slalom was in January Kitzbühel, Austria, placing 18th.
    Because of his struggles, Miller started outside the top group. He looked out of control right from the start and skied off course after about 10 gates. He gathered himself and started again, only to fall a few gates later.
    ''I'm OK,'' Miller said. ''I just got stuck on my tails a little bit.''
    Miller is using new skis this season and said he had a tough time with the sticky conditions.
    ''On really hard ice, they were great,'' Miller said. ''But on this grippier snow it was a little bit too much. We'll keep messing around with it. The skis felt great. Look at the splits from the first 10 gates and I bet I was pretty fast.''
    Miller still had something to celebrate. Courtesy of his super G victory in Val Gardena on Friday and second-place finish in Sunday's giant slalom, Miller had already clinched the €25,000 (US$33,000) Dolomiti Super Trophy awarded to the weekend's overall winner.
    Miller said he may give the money to charity.
    This was the first World Cup slalom held on the Grand Risa, which has held giant slaloms since 1985.
    ''It's definitely one of the more moderate World Cup hills,'' Ligety said. ''It's one of the hardest GS hills and one of the easier slalom hills. That actually fares pretty well for me. I'm usually pretty good on the flats.''It was the fourth consecutive day a U.S. man reached the a World Cup podium in Italy.
    The men's schedule resumes Wednesday with a super G in Hinterstoder, Austria, followed by a giant slalom Thursday leading into the Christmas break. Some of the athletes will take time at the men's new training base in Paganella, Italy — also in the Dolomites — before the speed skiers head to Bormio for the traditional downhill Dec. 29.

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's slalom, Alta Badia, Italy, Dec. 18, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Larsson, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Rocca, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Palander, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Lizeroux, Dynastar/Lange/Look
7 Sasaki, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Vajdic, Elan//Atomic
10 Byggmark, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic 

Men's slalom, Alta Badia, Italy, Dec. 18, 2006. … It is the 12th race of the men's 38-event World Cup schedule. … It is the third of 10 scheduled slaloms. … It is the second race this season at Alta Badia. … It is the first World Cup slalom held at Alta Badia.
    It is the second career win for Markus Larsson, the first coming in slalom at the Are World Cup Finals last season. … He was second in this season's opener at Levi, but 21st at Beaver Creek. … Just nine Swedes have won more than a single World Cup.
    It is the sixth career podium for Ted Ligety. … All in the last two seasons. … Since his first (breakthrough) podium Dec. 4, 2005, at Beaver Creek, he has recorded 19 scoring finishes. … 17 of 19 are top-10 results. … 13 are top-seven results and the six podiums.
    It is the 16th career podium for Ivica Kostelic. … His first at Alta Badia. … Both of his completed races this season are podiums, the other a win in combined at Reiteralm. … The rest of his podiums are all in slalom, including a knock-out slalom win in December 2002.
    It is the second-best career result for Jimmy Cochran. … His best slalom result to date. … His best result of the season following 15th in slalom at Levi Nov. 12. … It is the third-best slalom result, of three, this season for Thomas Grandi.
    It was the first time since Jan. 24, 1999, that Sweden had six racers scoring in a single World Cup race. … It has been 11 races since an Austrian male won a race, the last being Benjamin Raich at Levi in the opener Nov. 12. … Five Austrians failed to complete the first run. … Raich was DQ'd in the second run. … First-run leader Stephane Tissot and slalom standings leader going into the race, Michael Janyk, failed to complete the second run. … Aksel Lund Svindal (20th in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 397-363 over Didier Cuche (did not race). … Bode Miller (first-run DNF) maintains third at 340. … Peter Fill (did not qualify) holds fourth and Ligety climbs to fifth at 252. … Larsson takes the lead of the slalom standings 180-116 over Janyk (DNF second run). … Jens Byggmark (10th in race) is third at 127. … Ligety is the top U.S. skier in 10th at 80 points. … Winning margin is .19 of a second. … Top dozen are within the same second. … Entire finishing field within two seconds.

Alta Badia men's World Cup slalom results

Did not finish 1st run:
WOJTIUK Jan (POL), SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG), OLSSON Hans (SWE), VILETTA Sandro (SUI), SEILER Jan (SUI), BURAAS Hans-Petter (NOR), SPORN Andrej (SLO), MCDONALD Paul (USA), TIEZZA Luca (ITA), KOGLER Stefan (GER), ZAMANSKY Jake (USA), VRABLIK Martin (CZE), ALBRECHT Kilian (BUL), GRUBELNIK Drago (SLO), ROTHROCK Tom (USA), MISSILLIER Steve (FRA), KOLL Alexander (AUT), DREIER Christoph (AUT), MILLER Bode (USA), VOGL Alois (GER), ALBRECHT Daniel (SUI), PRANGER Manfred (AUT), SCHOENFELDER Rainer (AUT), MATT Mario (AUT)

Did not finish 2nd run:
GINI Marc (SUI), BOURGEAT Pierrick (FRA), JANYK Michael (CAN), TISSOT Stephane (FRA)

Disqualified 1st run:
BROWN Roger G P (USA), BIGGS Patrick (CAN), MYHRER Andre (SWE)

Disqualified 2nd run:
RAICH Benjamin (AUT)

Did not qualify 1st run:
SAMSAL Dalibor (CRO), SANDELL Marcus (FIN), HANADA Masashi (JPN), ULIANOV Dmitrij (RUS), GEORGIEV Stefan (BUL), SEMPLE Ryan (CAN), INNERHOFER Christof (ITA), GORZA Ales (SLO), KARLSEN Truls Ove (NOR), NILSEN Andreas (NOR), BERTHOD Marc (SUI), ROY Jean-Philippe (CAN), LEINO Jukka (FIN), MARINAC Martin (AUT), IMBODEN Urs (MDA), MYHRE Lars Elton (NOR), TREJBAL Filip (CZE), BAXTER Noel (GBR), RAZZOLI Giuliano (ITA), BAUMANN Romed (AUT), STUTZ Paul (CAN), ENGL Kurt (AUT), HARGIN Mattias (SWE), FILL Peter (ITA), YUAS
A Naoki (JPN)

Overall World Cup standings
(After 12 races)
1. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 397 points.
2. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 363.
3. Bode Miller, United States, 340.
4. Peter Fill, Italy, 258.
5. Ted Ligety, United States, 252.
6. John Kucera, Canada, 251.
7. Steven Nyman, United States, 250.
8. Kalle Palander, Finland, 227.
9. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 226.
10. Rainer Schoenfelder, Austria, 209.
11. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 203.
12. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 197.
13. Markus Larsson, Sweden, 190.
14. Hermann Maier, Austria, 178.
15. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 173.

World Cup slalom standings
(After three races)
1. Markus Larsson, Sweden, 180.
2. Michael Janyk, Canada, 116.
3. Jens Byggmark, Sweden, 111.
4. Giorgio Rocca, Italy, 110.
5. Andre Myhrer, Sweden, 100.
(tie) Benjamin Raich, Austria, 100.
7. Thomas Grandi, Canada, 95.
8. Kalle Palander, Finland, 91.
9. Felix Neureuther, Germany, 86.
10. Ted Ligety, United States, 80.