Felix Neureuther claimed his first career World Cup win Sunday (Jan. 24) putting his name alongside that of his dad as winners of a Hahnenkamm slalom. Ivica Kostelic picked up the Hahnenkamm trophy as winner of the combined.

Neureuther’s win was the 17th German podium of the season, but the first for a male. Neureuther’s dad, Christian, won six World Cup slaloms, the last coming at Kitzbuehel in 1979.

Neureuther,  the son, has had six World Cup podiums dating back to 2006, but had never turned the corner to take the top step. This was the place to do it with both Dad and Mom, Rosi Mittermaier, present to witness the event. When he took the lead with two skiers remaining, he collapsed in the finish area in joy.

It was a close and difficult win. Tight behind Neureuther was Julien Lizeroux,  the French winner at Adelboden .39 away from another victory. In third was the winner of the Zagreb slalom, Italian Giuliano Razzoli. Both Manfred Moelgg and Reinfried Herbst, the first run leaders, missed gates and had to hike in their second run efforts.

Canadian Michael Janyk had a strong second run and earned fifth, leading an outstanding showing for the Olympic hosts. Julien Cousineau was 11th, Brad Spense 12th  and Trevor White 14th. It was an historic result for Canada which had never had four in the top 15 before.
 “I think the team’s performance today was awesome,” said coach John Crichton. “But because of the strength of
the whole team, we are looking for more. We want podiums. Everyone that went on
to the start gate is capable of winning, it s just a matter of all the pieces
falling into place.”

Ted Ligety had to hike in the second run after getting light coming over a rise, but still made 23rd on the day.

“Ligety was going, charging hard,” said U.S. Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “He just got shot out right before the roll and had no snow contact right at that gate.”

Nolan Kasper, in just his second World Cup start, dazzled in making the cut of the first run, but struggled in the second, finishing 27th, but 16 seconds out. The U.S. guys weren’t alone in their second run woes. First run leader Herbst hiked after missing the same gate as Ligety and he wound up next to Kasper in the finish order, neither of them being awarded Cup points because of the distance back from the winners.

With 33 skiers failing to finish the first run and three more exiting in the second, it was evident Kitzbuehel’s Ganslem slope, adjacent to the downhill track, was a tough test.

Just 18 skiers completed both the slalom and Saturday’s downhill making for a short combined result. Unlike the other three combineds held this season for the men, this was an old school event combining the times of the downhill and both slalom runs. Ivica Kostelic snared the win with Silvan Zurbriggen in second and Benjamin Raich getting third. Ligety was 10th as the only U.S. finishers. Ryan Semple in 11th was the only Canadian to complete the two day event.

Bode Miller was a late scratch from the slalom after determining in warm-ups that his ankle was too sore to compete. He had been ninth after the downhill and seemed in position to get a podium result for the combined.

Kasper had arrived after midnight Saturday, rolling in direct from Europa Cups in Bansko, Bulgaria. He provides one more option for the coaches as they gather to try and figure out who will make the Olympic team.

Kasper said he had made “a couple of dumb errors,” but allowed that earning a second run at Kitzbuehel in front of a huge crowd, was still “really cool.”

He hooked a gate in his second run, “but I wanted to finish, so I hiked. My heart just dropped.”

His effort drew applause from the crowd and spurred him on.

“Nolan worked really hard this summer,” said coach Rearick. “He was with the Europa Cup team, then got his first (World Cup) start at Levi. Then he went home for NorAms, then Europa Cup and he won a FIS race. He’s just been stepping up and stepping up. That was a fantasic effort, especially on this hill.”

“It’s going to be an interesting evening,” Rearick said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff on the plate. I’ll get together with the coaching staff and we’re going to put together a great (Olympic) team with the guys that have the best chance to medal in 2010.”

A team announcement is scheduled for tomorrow.

Felix Neureuther photo by GEPA

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men’s slalom, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 24, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Lizeroux, Dynastar/Lange/Look
3 Razzoli, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
4 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Janyk, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Hargin, Nordica/Nordica/
9 Missillier, Dynastar/Lange/Look
10 Matt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Men’s combined, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 24, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Zurbriggen, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
3 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Lizeroux, Dynastar/Lange/Look
5 Zrncic-Dim, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Jansrud, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Bank, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Baumann, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men’s slalom and combined, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 24, 2010. … The concluding events of the 70th annual Hahnenkamm. … they are the 23rd and 24th “races” of the men’s 35 race 2010 World Cup schedule. … the sixth of nine scheduled slaloms and the fourth and final combined of the World Cup season. … It is the 137th and 138th Cup events held at Kitzbuehel. … It is the 44th Cup slalom held at Kitzbuehel and the 33rd combined held at least in part at Kitzbuehel.

It is the first career World Cup victory for Felix Neureuther. … He has previously been second or third six times. … It is the first win of the season for a German male. … He is the third German to win a Cup slalom at Kitzbuehel after his father Christian ’79, and Armin Bittner in ’89. It is the 11th career World Cup win for Ivica Kostelic. … and second of the season having also won the Wengen slalom. … It is his second career combined win, the previous at Reiteralm in the 2007 season.

It is the seventh career World Cup podium for Julian Lizeroux. … his sixth in slalom. … It is his third podium of the season, all in slalom. It is the eighth career Cup podium result for Silvan Zurbriggen. … his sixth in combined. … It is his third podium of the season and second in combined.

It is the fourth career World Cup podium for Giuliano Razzoli all in slalom and all since last January. … He has to podiums this season, the other the slalom win at Zagreb Jan. 6. It is the 85th career Cup podium for Benjamin Raich. … It is his 11th podium in combined. … It is his seventh podium at Kitzbuehel and fourth in combined at Kitzbuehel. … It is his fifth podium of the season and second in combined having won Val d’Isere Dec. 11.

Michael Janyk matches his fourth best career World Cup result in the slalom. … It is his best career result at Kitzbuehel. … It is his second top five of the season the other also a fifth in the Alta Badia slalom Dec. 21. … It is the fourth best career result for Julian Cousineau and his best result outside of Wengen. … It is his best of five scoring results this season. … Brad Spence matches his career best result from Alta Badia’s slalom earlier this season. … He now had five scoring finishes for his career, four of them this season. … It is the third best of four career scoring results for Trevor White, his second of the season. … It is the 38th career slalom score for Ted Ligety. … his third of the season. … He matches his sixth best career combined result. … He has finish 10th in five Cup combineds going back to 2005. … It is his second combined score this season. … It is a career best Cup result of 10 scores for Ryan Semple. … It is his second score of the season.

Benjamin Raich (4th sl) leads the World Cup overall standings 853-829 over Carlo Janka (7th cmb-DNQ sl). … Didier Cuche (     ) is third at 746. … Ligety is the top U.S. skier overall in 10th with 435pts. … Manuel Osborne-Paradis (did not race) leads the Canadians in 13th at 359. … Lizeroux leads the slalom standings 366-305 over Reinfried Herbst (26th in sl). … Kostelic is third in the slalom standings with 276pts. … Janyk leads the North Americans in ninth place with 174 slalom pts. … Jimmy Cochran (DNF 1st) is the top U.S. skier on the slalom list in 19th with 69pts. … Raich wins the World Cup combined title 246-216 over Janka. … Kostelic is third at 172. … Bode Miller (did not race) is the top U.S. skier in fifth with 145. … Semple is the top Canadian in 28th place with 32pts. … Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 3540-3246 over Switzerland. … Italy is this at 2103. … Canada is fifth at 1257 and the U.S. sixth at 1242.