Eberharter grabs third downhill win of the season; Rahlves tops for U.S. in 14th

Eberharter grabs third downhill win of the season; Rahlves tops for U.S. in 14thStephan Eberharter extended his lead in the men’s downhill World Cup standings with a narrow victory on Saturday at Garmisch.

The Austrian, showing no signs of wear at 34, tamed the Kandahar course in 1:58.70 for his third downhill win of the season on a beautiful day in this Bavarian Alps resort.

Suffering from a sore throat and runny nose, American Daron Rahlves finished 14th, ending a string of four straight World Cup podiums.

“I’ve been pretty sick since Kitzbuehel,” said Rahlves, runner-up in Friday’s downhill. “I maxed myself out yesterday, and had no energy left. … I made a huge mistake in the Eisshang just because I didn’t have the legs to pull it off. I’m just glad I stayed in the course and made it down. … I have to go to bed now. I’m cooked.”

Eberharter´s teammate Fritz Strobl, the Olympic downhill champion, took second, nine hundredths of a second back, while Italian Alessandro Fattori finished third in 1:59.15 in a race marred by several spectacular crashes.

Switzerland’s Didier Defago was fourth while Hermann Maier, Hannes Trinkl and Christoph Gruber completed an impressive overall showing from the Austrian squad by sharing fifth place.

Also for the U.S., Bryon Friedman and Bode Miller snuck into the points, finishing 27th and 28th, respectively. Jake Fiala was a DNF.

Miller, who again finds his chances to win the overall World Cup dimishing race by race, says he’s not skiing well in speed events, and that his technique doesn’t suit the bumpy ice of Garmisch. “I get more extension, and if it’s tight I can make sharper turns. My feet are farther away from my body. When you do that, the line of balance is finer. You have to be more accurate. So it’s harder.”

Miller, who has gone down on his hip three times in the last two days, and countless times this season, says it’s limiting his ability to win points in speed events. “It doesn´t feel like I boot out,” he said, asked to explain. “It’s hard to say. It just feels like the ski bounces. When your feet are far away from you and the ski bounces, you lose pressure and you go on your side.”

Austrian Benjamin Raich, who is chiefly a technical racer and did not compete on Saturday, retained the overall World Cup lead.

Eberharter, who became the oldest winner in World Cup history when he stormed to victory in Kitzbuehel last week, had to be content with third place in the first of two downhills here on Friday, won by Swiss Didier Cuche.

The defending overall, downhill and super G World Cup champion, Eberhareter loves Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where he won a downhill last year and a super G the year before. He’ll get another chance to shine in Sunday’s super G here which completes the weekend program.

Alpine World Cup

Men’s Downhill

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Austria

January 31, 2004

1. Stephan Eberharter (Austria) 1:58.70

2. Fritz Strobl (Austria) 1:58.79

3. Alessandro Fattori (Italy) 1:59.15

4. Didier Defago (Switzerland) 1:59.32

5= Hermann Maier (Austria) 1:59.49

5= Hannes Trinkl (Austria) 1:59.49

5= Christoph Gruber (Austria) 1:59.49

8. Bruno Kernen (Switzerland) 1:59.55

9. Didier Cuche (Switzerland) 1:59.67

10. Klaus Kroell (Austria) 1:59.91

11. Patrik Jaerbyn (Sweden) 1:59.95

12. Johann Grugger (Austria) 2:00.05

13. Andreas Schifferer (Austria) 2:00.32

14. Daron Rahlves (U.S.) 2:00.34

15. Hans Knauss (Austria) 2:00.41

16. Michael Walchhofer (Austria) 2:00.46

17. Marco Buechel (Liechtenstein) 2:00.48

18. Ambrosi Hoffmann (Switzerland) 2:00.59

19. Paul Accola (Switzerland) 2:00.63

20= Yannick Bertrand (France) 2:01.18

20= Kristian Ghedina (Italy) 2:01.18

22. Kurt Sulzenbacher (Italy) 2:01.22

23. Marc Bottollier-Lasquin (France) 2:01.24

24. Antoine Deneriaz (France) 2:01.27

25. Vincent Lavoie (Canada) 2:01.44

26. Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin (France) 2:01.46

27. Bryon Friedman (U.S.) 2:01.67

28. Bode Miller (U.S.) 2:01.86

29. Tobias Gruenenfelder (Switzerland) 2:01.93

30. Erik Seletto (Italy) 2:02.04

Other North Americans:

DNF: Jakub Fiala (U.S.)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Men’s Downhill

Garmisch, Germany, January 31, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Eberharter, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

2 Strobl, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

3 Fattori, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia

4 Defago, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

5 Maier, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

5 Trinkl, Head/Lange/Tyrolia

5 Gruber, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Kernen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

9 Cuche, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

10 Kroell, Head/Tecnica/Tyrolia

It’s the 25th race of the 38-race men’s schedule and the ninth of 12 DH’s. … The 18th win of the season for Atomic skis. … The top nine finishers are all in the same second.

It’s the 28th career World Cup win for Stephan Eberharter, putting him sixth on the male World Cup victor list all-time (behind Ingemar Stenmark, Alberto Tomba, Marc Girardelli and Hermann Maier). … He had been tied for sixth with Phil Mahre. … It’s Eberharter’s third win of the season, all in DH, all in January, all on traditional tracks (Chamonix, Kitzbuehel, Garmisch). … He’s the only male to win more than one DH this season. … It’s the third time in the last five World Cup races at Garmisch that Eberharter has won (he also won 1/27/02 SG and 2/22/03 DH).

The 20th career podium for Fritz Strobl, and first of the season. … It’s the fourth career podium for Alessandro Fattori and his first since 3/7/02 at Altenmarkt. … It’s the first men’s DH podium of the season for Italy.

The 14th scoring finish this season for Daron Rahlves; he had podiumed at Garmisch the previous day, and in 2003. … It’s the ninth scoring finish of Bryon Friedman’s career and season. … It’s the 17th scoring finish of the season for Bode Miller and his fifth in DH. … He has 59 DH points in his overall total of 758. … It’s the eighth scoring finish, sixth of the season, for Vincent Lavoie, the only Canadian entered in the race.

Benjamin Raich maintains the lead in the World Cup overall standings 918-842 over Eberharter. … Miller is the top American in fifth at 758. … Eberharter leads the DH standings 591-4543 over Rahlves. … Austria leads the Nations Cup (before the women’s race also scheduled today) 11874-3401 over the Swiss. … Italy holds third at 3339 and the U.S. drops to fourth at 3321. … The Austrians hold the men’s standings 7392-2123 over Italy. … The U.S. men are fifth at 1759.