Miller takes Kitzbuehel combined; Palander edges Grandi in slalom

Miller takes Kitzbuehel combined; Palander edges Grandi in slalomIn driving snow, on a slalom hill lined top to bottom with 18,000 fans, Bode Miller won the Hahnenkamm combined on Sunday, one of the most historic trophies in all of ski racing.

He finished fourth in Sunday’s slalom, behind winner Kalle Palander of Finland and runner-up Thomas Grandi, who had a history-making finish for Canada. That, combined with Miller’s seventh-place finish in the downhill on Thursday, gave him his second combined title of the season.

“I’m one of the people who can truly appreciate how hard it is to run the Kitzbuehel downhill and then run the Kitzbuehel slalom,” said Miller. “It’s not easy. A lot of people think the combined is a goofy event. This is the one to win. Between Chamonix and here, it’s great. All I gotta do now is get Wengen. The Wengen combined and then my trifecta will be complete.”

The win caps one of the most successful weeks in U.S. Ski Team history. Daron Rahlves had a second and third in two downhills and won a super G. Other “front-page” results came from Tom Rothrock in slalom — matching his career-beset with ninth — and Miller in each event.

All of this success came on the inimitable platform of Kitzbuehel, Austria, where officials estimatd the total number of visitors for the events at 81,000.

After accepting the trophy, and sharing bottles of champagne with a group of Canadians and Americans, Miller tried to leave the finish stadium in a phalanx of soldiers. But when Miller and his escorts hit the throngs of chanting and intoxicated fans that were waiting to see the athletes, the phalanx broke apart, and Miller was forced to run at a full sprint from the mountain to the anti-doping facility, trailing a gaggle of Austrian children and teenage girls.

While his tech-event oriented teammates raced, a triumphant Daron Rahlves recovered from the previous night’s celebrations. Rahlves went free-skiing, cutting under a rope and straight-lining most of the trail underneath the Hahnenkamm-bahn gondola.

The gondola has cars named after past Hahnenkamm race winners. Miller will now receive a car, joining a small group of Americans that includes Bob Cochran, Daron Rahlves and Phil Mahre.

Palander’s razor-thin victory over Grandi allowed him to recapture the lead in the World Cup slalom standings.

“It seems to me that Kalle has the most speed,” said Miller, who thinks Palander is a dark-horse for the overall title. “Just raw speed. If he wants to go as fast as he can go, he may blow out. I think he probably had to face the fact that he’s not infallible at Chamonix. When he wanted to win that second run, he pushed it hard, had tons of speed, but made all kinds of mistakes.”

Palander used a strong second run to edge Grandi, who won the first run. Palander finished with a two-run time of 1:30.63, 0.08 seconds ahead of Grandi, who had his best World Cup finish ever. His previous best was a third place in GS at Park City in 1997. He also became the first Canadian male to make it to a World Cup slalom podium.

Miller’s combined win is his second in as many events this season. He won previously at Chamonix, France. Miller was seventh in the Thursday downhill; times in that race and Sunday’s slalom were added to determine the combined winner.

Austria’s Benjamin Raich was second in the combined, with Norway’s Lasse Kjus in third — the same order of finish as in the Chamonix combined.

Palander’s slalom win was his fourth of the season — three in slalom and one in GS. Third place in the slalom, 0.12 seconds ahead of Miller, went to Austria’s Rainer Schoenfelder.

“It is like a dream come true,” said Palander, who also won at Kitzbuehel last season. “In Chamonix I was 16th, in Wengen I went out and now I have won the most important one of them all. It is just great.”

Italian Giorgio Rocca, who began the day as slalom World Cup leader, finished 13th, 1.84 seconds behind Palander.

Besides Miller and Rothrock in the top 10, Chip Knight, in 25th, was the only other U.S. skier to make the second run.

Miller describes Grandi’s run

“[Thomas Grandi] lengthens out the pressure in his turn really well. Most of the time he’s a lot rounder than the other racers. He carries a little bit higher speed the whole way and he goes a longer distance because he’s a little farther away from the gates. His pressure is just more distributed.

“Kalle [Palander] and Raich sometimes go in super-direct, and there’s a huge amount of force in one tiny little spot of the turn. In the past, Grandi has had some problems with skiing really well, but not being as fast as he looks. Sometimes when you’re going a longer distance, and there’s guys who are being clean and skiing a shorter distance, no one can really see where the speed goes. You’re skiing the same speed, but you’re going a longer distance. It’s like you’re on a different course.

“In the past he’s had some great results in GS. That light touch and finesse comes in incredibly handy over bumps and through rough terrain. Over a lot of different conditions, it’s pretty adaptable. Especially today, where there’s lots of rolls, I was really impressed with how he moved his line in. Some of those rolls, if you try to swing a wide line, or if you’re trying to set up and stay away from the gates — you saw what happened to those guys. They got shot out of the course and ended up not even touching the gates. They were like five feet away. He came over all those rolls tight on the gate. That’s what it takes. That’s a hard step to take, though. It’s easier to be clean and soft on your edges when you’re far from the gate. It’s harder when you come in close.”

Alpine World Cup

Men’s Slalom

Kitzbuehel, Austria

January 25, 2004

1. Kalle Palander (Finland) (44.42/46.21) 1:30.63

2. Thomas Grandi (Canada) (44.23/46.48) 1:30.71

3. Rainer Schoenfelder (Austria) (44.52/47.17) 1:31.69

4. Bode Miller (U.S.) (45.09/46.72) 1:31.81

5. Silvan Zurbriggen (Switzerland) (45.07/46.76) 1:31.83

6= Mario Matt (Austria) (45.53/46.33) 1:31.86

6= Benjamin Raich (Austria) (44.96/46.90) 1:31.86

8. Truls Ove Karlsen (Norway) (45.25/46.81) 1:32.06

9. Tom Rothrock (U.S.) (45.35/46.80) 1:32.15

10. Ivica Kostelic (Croatia) (44.87/47.33) 1:32.20

11. Kilian Albrecht (Austria) (45.36/46.87) 1:32.23

12. Felix Neureuther (Germany) (46.31/46.07) 1:32.38

13. Giorgio Rocca (Italy) (45.28/47.19) 1:32.47

14. Martin Marinac (Austria) (45.67/46.83) 1:32.50

15. Kurt Engl (Austria) (45.87/46.79) 1:32.66

16. Pierrick Bourgeat (France) (45.00/47.72) 1:32.72

17. Jean-Pierre Vidal (France) (45.33/47.42) 1:32.75

18. Heinz Schilchegger (Austria) (45.14/47.69) 1:32.83

19. Manfred Moelgg (Italy) (45.67/47.17) 1:32.84

20. Julien Cousineau (Canada) (45.42/47.44) 1:32.86

21. Rene Mlekuz (Slovenia) (45.79/47.08) 1:32.87

22. Hannes Paul Schmid (Italy) (46.16/46.73) 1:32.89

23. Jure Kosir (Slovenia) (46.32/46.62) 1:32.94

24. Giancarlo Bergamelli (Italy) (46.14/47.07) 1:33.21

25. Andreas Nilsen (Norway) (46.20/47.27) 1:33.47

26. Chip Knight (U.S.) (46.05/47.72) 1:33.77

27. Johan Brolenius (Sweden) (45.93/48.09) 1:34.02

28. Jukka Leino (Finland) (46.06/52.21) 1:38.27

DNF 2nd: Mitja Dragsic (Slovenia), Alain Baxter (Britain)

Other North Americans:

DNQ 2nd: Jesse Marshall (U.S.), Paul Stutz (Canada)

DNF 1st: James Cochran, Jake Zamanky (U.S.), Jean-Philippe Roy (Canada)

Men’s Combined

Kitzbuehel, Austria

January 24-25, 2004

1. Bode Miller, USA 3:31.43

2. Benjamin Raich, AUT 3:32.44

3. Lasse Kjus, NOR 3:34.67

4. Michael Walchhofer, AUT 3:35.48

5. Silvan Zurbriggen, SUI 3:35.91

6. Pierr
ick Bourgeat, FRA 3:36.26

7. Didier Defago, SUI 3:37.85

8. Aksel Lund Svindal, NOR 3:37.87

9. Peter Fill, ITA 3:38.34

10. Bruno Kernen, SUI 3:38.84

11. Ondrej Bank, CZE 3:39.15

12. Ambrosi Hoffmann, SUI 3:39.24

13. Bjarne Solbakken, NOR 3:39.44

14. Hermann Maier, AUT 3:39.51

15. Didier Cuche, SUI 3:40.91

16. Stephan Eberharter, AUT 3:41.93

17. Patrik Jaerbyn, SWE 3:44.19

18. Pavel Chestakov, RUS 3:48.34

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Men’s Slalom

Kitzbuehel, Austria, January 25, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Palander, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

2 Grandi, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

3 Schoenfelder, Fischer/Nordica/Tyrolia

4 Miller, Rossignol/Nordica/Rossignol

5 Zurbriggen, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia

6 Matt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

6 Raich, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Karlsen, Fischer/Nordica/Tyrolia

9 Rothrock, Volkl/Nordica/Marker

10 Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Equipment, Men’s Combined

Kitzbuehel, Austria, January 24-25, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Miller, Rossignol/Nordica/Rossignol

2 Raich, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

3 Kjus, Dynastar/Atomic/Look

4 Walchhofer, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

5 Zurbriggen, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia

6 Bourgeat, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

7 Defago, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

9 Fill, Dynastar/Tecnica/Look

10 Kernen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

It’s the 22nd of 38 scheduled men’s races, the sixth of 11 slaloms, and the second of two combineds. … The slalom is the 15th win of the season for Atomic skis; the combined the ninth for Rossignol.

The slalom is a two-man race. … Kalle Palander wins by eight hundredths, but third is over a second back. … It is Palander’s eighth career win, all in slalom. … His fourth win of the season. … Kitzbuehel is the first site where he’s won twice.

It’s a career-best result for Thomas Grandi, and his second podium. The first came more than six years ago — 11/20/97 at Park City in GS. … It’s also the first-ever podium finish in slalom for a Canadian male. … It’s the 11th career podium for Rainer Schoenfelder, all in slalom. … It’s his third podium of the season and second in consecutive slaloms.

The slalom and combined are the seventh and eighth top-four results of the season for Bode Miller. … Ninth matches Tom Rothrock’s career best, also this season, at Park City in November. … All of his 13 career scoring finishes are in slalom. … It’s the first time the U.S. men have had two top-10 finishes in slalom since Felix McGrath and Robert Ormsby finished 5-10, respectively, at Furano, Japan, 3/5/89.

The second scoring finish of the season for Julien Cousineau, and fourth of his career, all at traditional World Cup stops: Kitzbuehel, Wengen and Adelboden. … It’s the second consecutive slalom in which Canadian men have had two scorers. … The 19th scoring result of Chip Knight’s career, and fourth this season.

The combined is the 10th career win for Bode Miller, and fourth of the season. … Ten wins moves him past Steve Mahre and Picabo Street on the all time U.S. win list into third. … He is behind only Phil Mahre (27) and Tamara McKinney (18). … It is the 138th U.S. World Cup win.

It is the 33rd career podium for Benjamin Raich, and second in combined, both this season. … It is his fourth podium of the season. … The 57th career World Cup podium for Lasse Kjus, and fifth this season. … It’s the seventh time he has been on the Kitzbuehel Hahnekamm combined podium, dating back to 1991.

Kjus maintains the overall World Cup lead 824-818 over Raich. … Hermann Maier is third at 732 and Miller now fourth at 701. … Palander maintains the slalom lead, narrowly, 315-310 for both Schoenfelder and Giorgio Rocca. … Miller leads U.S. skiers in 14th with 110 points. … Rothrock is 16th with 86. … Miller, Raich and Kjus have finished 1-2-3 respectively in both combineds this season.