Bode Miller captures GS in Kranjska Gora, vaults into lead in World Cup overall

Bode Miller captures GS in Kranjska Gora, vaults into lead in World Cup overallBode Miller staked his claim to become the first American in more than two decades to don the overall World Cup crown with victory in a giant slalom on Saturday at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Miller’s third giant slalom win of the season not only gave him an eight-point lead in the standings over Austria’s Hermann Maier but also allowed him to take over the top spot in the giant slalom rankings with just one race left.

Miller, 26, leading after the first run and the defending champion at this resort, held his nerve down the Podkoren course for a combined time of 2:13.01.

Italian Alberto Schieppati swooped into second, 0.25 seconds off the pace, for his first podium finish, while teammate Alexander Ploner also reached the top three for the first time, sharing third place with Swedish veteran Fredrik Nyberg.

In a race packed full of surprises and some high-profile casualties, Frenchman Freddy Rech charged into fifth place, just 0.74 seconds behind Miller to seize his first World Cup points.

But the day belonged to Miller, who took a giant step toward becoming the first American since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the overall World Cup. Miller, runner-up to Austrian Stephan Eberharter last year and one of only four racers to score points in each of alpine skiing’s four disciplines this season, can bolster his lead even further this weekend with a strong performance in Sunday’s slalom. Maier, 12th in Saturday’s GS, doesn’t compete in slalom.

The American has been more consistent in slalom this season than last, finishing fourth or better in each of the last four races including a win in the last event, at St Anton, Austria, two weeks ago.

“I really wanted to try and win today. We all want to win every day, but sometimes I risk too much and I crash out,” Miller said after collecting his 12th World Cup victory.

Maier, who relinquished the overall lead with just seven races left on the schedule, was impressed with Miller’s performance.

“It was optimal. He’s just got the confidence and the self-assuredness now so he’s winning races like that,” Maier said. “There are several speed races left [two downhills and two super G’s], so we’ll have to see what happens. It will be a bitter battle and I think it will be played out until the very end,”

during the World Cup Finals in Sestriere, Italy, next month.

Miller’s win gave him the giant slalom lead ahead of Finland’s Kalle Palander, who struggled in the tough conditions in the first run and was disqualified after missing the penultimate gate.

Austrian Benjamin Raich dealt a blow to his campaign for the overall World Cup crown with an error-riddled first run that landed him in 28th position. He eventually finished in 17th place and is now in third position overall with 999 points.

Also for the U.S., Daron Rahlves finished 19th. Thomas Grandi of Canada, second after the first run, wound up 10th overall.

Dane Spencer failed to make the second run and dropped to 27th in the GS points, knocking him out of World Cup Finals, where the top 25 skiers in each discipline, all skiers with 400 or more total points and the world junior champion are invited to race; Europa Cup and NorAm discipline champions no longer are included.

Miller, Rahlves — as a 400-points skier – and world junior champ Jeff Harrison will represent the U.S. in GS at Finals.

Alpine World Cup

Men’s Giant Slalom

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

February 28, 2004

1. Bode Miller (U.S.) 2:13.01 (first run 1:08.59/second run 1:04.42)

2. Alberto Schieppati (Italy) 2:13.26 (1:09.35/1:03.91)

3= Alexander Ploner (Italy) 2:13.61 (1:09.43/1:04.18)

3= Fredrik Nyberg (Sweden) 2:13.61 (1:09.13/1:04.48)

5. Freddy Rech (France) 2:13.75 (1:09.10/1:04.65)

6. Christoph Gruber (Austria) 2:13.91 (1:09.68/1:04.23)

7. Stephan Goergl (Austria) 2:13.99 (1:09.63/1:04.36)

8. Manfred Moelgg (Italy) 2:14.09 (1:09.75/1:04.34)

9. Truls Ove Karlsen (Norway) 2:14.36 (1:09.31/1:05.05)

10. Thomas Grandi (Canada) 2:14.38 (1:09.03/1:05.35)

11. Joel Chenal (France) 2:14.59 (1:09.55/1:05.04)

12= Rainer Schoenfelder (Austria) 2:14.61 (1:09.93/1:04.68)

12= Hermann Maier (Austria) 2:14.61 (1:09.52/1:05.09)

14. Christian Mayer (Austria) 2:14.63 (1:09.94/1:04.69)

15= Sami Uotila (Finland) 2:14.76 (1:09.21/1:05.55)

15= Heinz Schilchegger (Austria) 2:14.76 (1:09.10/1:05.66)

17. Benjamin Raich (Austria) 2:14.79 (1:10.28/1:04.51)

18. Davide Simoncelli (Italy) 2:14.86 (1:09.58/1:05.28)

19= Daron Rahlves (U.S.) 2:14.91 (1:10.24/1:04.67)

19= Andreas Schifferer (Austria) 2:14.91 (1:09.87/1:05.04)

21. Mirko Deflorian (Italy) 2:15.10 (1:10.25/1:04.85)

22. Jukka Rajala (Finland) 2:15.32 (1:10.23/1:05.09)

23. Mitja Valencic (France) 2:15.34 (1:10.08/1:05.26)

24. Andreas Nilsen (Norway) 2:15.39 (1:10.28/1:05.11)

25. Didier Defago (Switzerland) 2:15.48 (1:09.67/1:05.81)

26. Bernard Vajdic (Slovenia) 2:15.49 (1:09.69/1:05.80)

27. Hannes Reichelt (Austria) 2:15.55 (1:10.31/1:05.24)

28. Michael Gufler (Italy) 2:15.60 (1:09.50/1:06.10)

29. Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway) 2:16.21 (1:09.45/1:06.76)

DNF 2nd:Andreas Ertl (Germany)

Other North Americans:

DNQ 2nd: Jake Zamansky, Dane Spencer, Jeffrey Harrison, Jesse Marshall (U.S.); Ryan Semple, Francois Bourque (Canada)

DNF 1st: Jean-Philippe Roy (Canada); Ted Ligety (U.S.)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Men’s Giant Slalom

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, February 28, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Miller, Rossignol/Nordica/Rossignol

2 Schieppati, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

3 Ploner, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

3 Nyberg, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

5 Rech, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

6 Gruber, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

7 Goergl, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Moelgg, Dynastar/Lange/Look

9 Karlsen, Fischer/Nordica/Tyrolia

10 Grandi, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

It’s the 32nd of 38 scheduled men’s races. … Two slaloms, one GS, two SG’s and two downhills remain. … It’s the 13th win of the season for Rossignol skis.

It’s the 12th career win for Bode Miller, fifth in GS. … He gets his sixth win of the season and third in GS. … It’s his first GS win since winning the first two in October (Soelden) and November (Park City). … It’s the 140th World Cup win for the U.S. … Miller is third on the all-time list behind Tamara McKinney (18) and Phil Mahre (27). … It’s the most wins in a season by a U.S. skier since Picabo Street won six in 1995. … Miller wins the Kranjska Gora GS for the second straight year.

It’s a career day for the rest of the podium skiers: The first career podium for Alberto Schieppati, his previous best being eighth at Alta Badia 12/21. … The first career podium for Alexander Ploner, his previous best being 12th at Alta Badia 12/21 and St. Moritz 2/3/02. … The 21st career podium for Fredrik Nyberg, but his first since January 2002 at Adelboden.

The 17th career top 10 for Canadian Thomas Grandi, and sixth of this season. … It’s the third scoring result of the season in GS for Daron Rahlves…. These are the first career scoring results for Bernard Vajdic, Jukka Rajala and Mirko DeFlorian.

Miller takes the overall lead 1084-1976 over Hermann Maier with seven races remaining. … Benjamin Raich is third at 999. … Miller now leads the GS standings 410-349 over Kalle Palander with one race remaining.

The Austrian Nations Cup lead is 14510-4403 over Italy. … The U.S. is third at 4403. … The men’s standings are Austria 8927-Italy 2733-USA 2210.