Levi: Raich cruises to slalom win; Cochran 15th

LEVI, Finland — What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander. Benjamin Raich kick-started his defense of the overall World Cup title with a runaway win in the opening men's slalom, matching the result his girlfriend Marlies Schild had registered one day earlier.
    Raich could not quite manage Schild’s .80-second winning margin, as he defeated Markus Larsson of Sweden by .62 seconds and defending slalom champion Giorgio Rocca of Italy by .79.
    Jimmy Cochran led the American effort as a well-executed second run bumped him up to 15^th. The better-favored Bode Miller and Ted Ligety failed to make the top 30 to qualify for a second run. The Canadians showed strongly with Michael Janyk in seventh and Thomas Grandi in eighth.

LEVI, Finland — What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander. Benjamin Raich kick-started his defense of the overall World Cup title with a runaway win in the opening men's slalom, matching the result his girlfriend Marlies Schild had registered one day earlier.
    Raich could not quite manage Schild’s .80-second winning margin, as he defeated Markus Larsson of Sweden by .62 seconds and defending slalom champion Giorgio Rocca of Italy by .79.
    Jimmy Cochran led the American effort as a well-executed second run bumped him up to 15^th. The better-favored Bode Miller and Ted Ligety failed to make the top 30 to qualify for a second run. The Canadians showed strongly with Michael Janyk in seventh and Thomas Grandi in eighth.
    "It is great to win like this after what Marlies did yesterday,” Raich said. "Marlies will fly back with me on the plane and we'll get a chance to celebrate this together. It's really nice."
   It was the 24th World Cup race win for the Austrian, and he credited his second run with the win despite having also won the first. "I was not so satisfied with my first run but the second run was almost perfect. When it goes, it goes," said Raich. "Of course,” he added, “it was also important to take the lead in the World Cup."
    Larsson had a scare in the first run when he nearly straddled a gate. But the Swede, who won the final slalom of last season, managed to notch the third podium finish of his career.
    "I liked the course. It was icy and hard," Larsson said. "It was great to get a good result at the start of the season. I was a little bit uncertain before the opening race."  
    For his part, Cochran was just glad to get going at all. "It was fun, and it's so good to get racing," Cochran said, referring to the delayed season opener after the traditional first race, a giant slalom Oct. 29 in Sölden, Austria, was canceled because of rain and warm weather. "It was good just to get that first run over with. We've been waiting and waiting, so finally racing is great … and to start off with a good result is certainly a good feeling."
    Noting that eight qualifiers came from outside the first 30 skiers, including five from beyond the first 50, Cochran said, "I don't know if it's a changing of the guard, or just the matter of a short course and a different venue, but a lot of young guys were getting in there [qualifying] today. It held up well …
    "It's not the hardest hill we race, by any means, but it's a hill of extremes. It's really flat up top, then there's a breakover and it's steep for about 20 gates and then it's flat again to the finish. You've really got to pay attention. It doesn't flow much, but it's a cool hill," he said. "There are sharp contrasts — you're working on top, on the flat, and then it's steep and icy."
    U.S. coach Greg Needell said, "Tough day in some ways, great day in others. Jimmy had an excellent second run; it was his best run of World Cup slalom, no question, and he's clearly poised to have a great year in slalom. This isn't really his kind of hill because he's much better on pitches than the flat and there's a lot of flat here … but he's so in-balance and it's a great start for him. He saved the day for us.
    "Bode just looked a little uncomfortable on his run and ‘Rotty' gave away a lot of time on the flat up top … and Ted was attacking — he's always attacking. But he went out on a right-footed turn, on a fallaway on a roll, and not being able to pole-plant effectively — and not use it to recover, cost him. But he was going, as always. He went out and then got back in … but it chewed up a lot of time. Still, I thought he did a good job."
    Canadian head coach Paul Kristofic was pleased with his group's showing. "It's a strong start for the team," he said. "The other groups within the Canadian alpine ski team can feed off these results; it challenges everyone to step up to the plate."
    For complete race results, click here. To see the postrace video interview with Raich, click here.

 Levi men's slalom

The Associated Press, U.S. Ski Team and Alpine Canada contributed to this story. 

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

< p>Equipment
Men’s slalom, Levi, Finland, Nov. 12, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1. Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Larsson, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3. Rocca, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4. Tissot, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
5. Schoenfelder, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
6. Byggmark, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7. Janyk, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8. Grandi, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9. Pranger, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10. Zurbriggen, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia

Men’s slalom, Levi, Finland, Nov. 12, 2006. … It is the first race of the men’s 37 event World Cup season, the first of nine scheduled slaloms. … It is the first men’s race hosted at Levi.
    It is the 24^th career World Cup win for Benjamin Raich. … His 11^th in slalom. … Raich had just one slalom win among the seven Cup victories he recorded last season. … He did make the podium in five of the six slaloms he completed last season. … Raich is the defending World Cup overall champion and GS champion. … He also is a double gold medalist from the 2006 Olympics.
    It is the third career World Cup podium for Markus Larsson. … He has also finished third (Chamonix 2005) and won (Are 2006). … Thirty-four of his 38 scoring results have come in slalom, the remainder in combined.
It is the 21^st career podium for Giorgio Rocca. … It is the fourth time he has placed third. … It is Rocca’s best result since the end of a five-race win streak (in slaloms) just prior to the 2006 Olympics.
    Seventh is the third-best career placing for Canadian Michael Janyk, having been fourth at Shigakogen last season and sixth at Kranjska Gora in 2005. … All of his 12 World Cup scoring results have come in slalom. … It is the 26^th time Thomas Grandi has placed eighth or better in a World Cup event. … the 13^th time in slalom. … It is the third-best career result for Jimmy Cochran in six scoring finishes. … The result of 15^th matches his career best in slalom, previously reached at Kranjska Gora last December. … It is the seventh scoring result for Patrick Biggs, all in slalom. … He was 10th twice in January 2005.