Are: Matt gets win, Grange and Svindal get titles

It cannot be possible to squeeze any more drama out of a single race than was wrung from  the final race of the men’s 2009 World Cup season, the slalom at Are, Sweden Saturday.

Calling it “a big success for me today,” two time World Slalom Champion Mario Matt got his first win of the World Cup season, and first podium in four months in the final race, knocking two Frenchmen off the top step of the podium.

For Matt’s illustrious Austrian teammate Benjamin Raich, the day ended in bitter disappointment. Two points behind Norwegian Aksel Svindal for the overall World Cup title, all Raich needed to do was finish among the top 15. The first man down the hill on the first run of the day, Raich ended the suspense early, exiting the course. Svindal, nursing a fever and himself a first run casualty, regained the overall crown he owned in 2007 after returning from a disasterous crash early last season.

It cannot be possible to squeeze any more drama out of a single race than was wrung from the final race of the men’s 2009 World Cup season, the slalom at Are, Sweden Saturday.

Calling it “a big success for me today,” two time World Slalom Champion Mario Matt got his first win of the World Cup season, and first podium in four months in the final race, knocking two Frenchmen off the top step of the podium.

For Matt’s illustrious Austrian teammate Benjamin Raich, the day ended in bitter disappointment. Two points behind Norwegian Aksel Svindal for the overall World Cup title, all Raich needed to do was finish among the top 15. The first man down the hill on the first run of the day, Raich ended the suspense early, exiting the course. Svindal, nursing a fever and himself a first run casualty, regained the overall crown he owned in 2007 after returning from a disasterous crash early last season.

“There is nothing to say,” Raich told Reuters’ Patrick Lang. “I skied well, I did not take any risks. But in slalom everything can collapse so quickly. It will take me awhile to recover from this.”

“I feel a little uncomfortable winning like that by just two points in the last race of the season,” Svindal told the AFP news agency.

He added that his early season results at Beaver Creek, where he had been so badly injured, were still the highlight of his season, “… because I had to prove to myself I could still go fast.”

Matt said he was relieved to win again, but he was nowhere near as relieved as Jean-Baptiste Grange, the third place finisher behind French teammate Julien Lizeroux. Grange  managed to hang on to the slalom title he saw drift away at the end of last season. He had held the slalom standings lead from the opening race of the season, at Levi, Finland Nov. 16.

Grange told Lang, “I skied exacly the same as I did last year in Bormio (where he lost the title). This time it worked. I am ever so relieved.”

The points from the third place finish bumped Grange’s seasonal slalom total to 541 making it possible to hold off the charge of Manfred Pranger (454), the tenth place finisher on the day.

Second finishing in the race and third in the final standings was Lizeroux as he kept the pressure on his younger teammate through the last half of the season.

Pranger, and many others, was unable to control the sneaky Are hill as its series of rolls bumped skiers “light” making it difficult to maintain enough snow contact. It made for some mighty fine racing.

Ted Ligety, the lone American in the pared down field for World Cup Finals, was seventh after the first run. With no shot at the title there was little reason to hold anything back and his second run was shaping up to be a beauty until a ski tip bounced up on the wrong side of a gate and caused a straddle.

Canada’s Michael Janyk finished 16th, one place out of the points for a race during Finals week. Races are usually counted down 30 places but the fields are abbreviated for Finals and scoring altered accordingly.

The SCOOP

Equipment
Men’s Slalom, Are, Sweden, March 14, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Matt, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Lizeroux, Dynastar/Lange/Look
3 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Moelgg, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
5 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Missillier, Dynastar/Lange/Look
8 Hargin, Nordica/Nordica/
9 Myhrer, Nordica/Nordica/
10 Pranger, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

Men’s World Cup slalom, Are, Sweden, March 14, 2009. … It is the 37th and final race of the men’s 2009 World Cup schedule. … the tenth and final slalom. … Three races were moved from their originally scheduled locations and one was canceled.

It is the 12th World Cup victory for Mario Matt. … His 11th in slalom. … It is his first win, and second podium, of the season having finished third in the slalom opener at Levi Nov. 16.

It is the fourth career World Cup podium for Julien Lizeroux and third in slalom. … All of those podiums plus two silver medals at World Championships have come this season. …He placed first or second in four of the last five slaloms of the season, including Worlds.

It is the 12th World Cup podium for Jean-Baptiste Grange. … Ninth in slalom. … It is his sixth Cup podium of the season and fifth in slalom. … Those most recent before today was Jan. 25.

Aksel Svindal (DNF in race) wins the World Cup Overall title 1009-1007 over Benjamin Raich (DNF in race). … Didier Cuche (did not race) finishes third at 919. … Svindal is the 11th man to win more than one overall title having previously won on 2007. … It is the smallest margin of victory of a World Cup overall title in history. … Ted Ligety (2nd run DNF in race) in ninth with 601pts is the top American on the list.

Jean-Baptiste Grange wins the World Cup slalom title 541-454 over Ivica Kostelic (12th in race). … Julien Lizeroux finishes third at 419… Grange is the first Frenchman to win a Cup slalom trophy since Sebastian Amiez in 1996. . … Bode Miller (did not race) is the top American on the slalom list in 16th with 167pts.