Rahlves wins super G at Kvitfjell; Maier, third, stretches overall lead over MillerAmerican Daron Rahlves won the next-to-last super G of the men’s World Cup season on Sunday at Kvitfjell, Norway, while Hermann Maier tightened his grip on the overall title with third place.

After the race, the owner of the Kvitfjell resort, Bjorn Erik Borgen, organized a champagne toast for Rahlves. Borgen, a Denver-based investor who bought Kvitfjell last spring, is a supporter of the U.S. Ski Team.

“Maier didn’t put it all on the line the way Daron did,” said U.S. men’s speed head coach John McBride, who set the course with Rahlves in mind. “He showed that he’s the best in the world when it’s dark and rattle-y.”

McBride set the course with the help of the assistant coaches. “I don’t go anywhere without my amigos,” he said.

In a close finish, former world champion Rahlves had a time of 1:34.00 down the Olympiabakken course, 0.15 seconds ahead of Norway’s Bjarne Solbakken and 0.17 ahead of Maier.

Maier, who has already secured the super G title, was the first of eight Austrians in the top 10.

Maier’s closest rival for the overall trophy, American Bode Miller, finished 22nd, allowing the Austrian to stretch his lead in the standings to 67 points with four races remaining at the World Cup Finals in Italy, March 10-14.

The other contenders in the overall chase closed the gap on runner-up Miller. Defending champion Stephan Eberharter finished 12th and his teammate Benjamin Raich equalled the best super G result of his career with fourth place to keep alive his own title hopes.

Rahlves, who won back-to-back downhills at Kvitfjell four years ago, picked up his second career World Cup super G win. The other also came this season, at Kitzbuehel, Austria. Rahlves now has three victories this season, and six podium finishes.

“Today was awesome. I was smart on the line,” he said. “I’ve always liked this course. … I’m finishing off the season strong. I’d hoped to win the two speed [titles] this year [downhill and super G] but I didn’t make it. Next year, I aim to come back as number one and win the title in both speed events.”

Rahlves is second in the super G standings behind behind Maier, who has not finished lower than third all season. Rahlves is also third in the downhill World Cup, behind Eberharter and Maier, and moved up to fifth in the overall with Sunday’s win.

Also scoring for the U.S. was Jakub Fiala in 21st. Bryon Friedman was a DNF; he was fast on the upper sections, but caught an edge and went out. Vincent Lavoie, the only Canadian starter, finished 20th.

Neither Friedman nor Fiala will be racing in the World Cup Finals. Friedman missed qualifying for the downhill by one point. Athletes need to be ranked in the top 25 of the discipline standings to proceed to Finals. After the Kvitfjell super G, Fiala is in 28th.

Coaches considered sending Fiala and Friedman to Europa Cup Finals, but making travel plans at the last minute was too resource-consuming, so the two athletes are heading home to the Rockies.

Rahlves said he was happy to hold off Maier, providing a little help to teammate Miller ahead of the World Cup Finals. “I’m pulling for Bode,” Rahlves said. “It will be great to see him win.”

The overall standings, with four races remaining:

1. Maier (Austria) 1165

2. Miller (U.S.) 1098

3. Eberharter (Austria) 1083

4. Raich (Austria) 1063

5. Rahlves (U.S.) 882

Alpine World Cup

Men’s Super G

Kvitfjell, Norway

March 7, 2004

1. Daron Rahlves (U.S.) 1:34.00

2. Bjarne Solbakken (Norway) 1:34.15

3. Hermann Maier (Austria) 1:34.17

4. Benjamin Raich (Austria) 1:34.22

5. Michael Walchhofer (Austria) 1:34.40

6. Hans Knauss (Austria) 1:34.45

7. Christoph Gruber (Austria) 1:34.56

8. Andreas Schifferer (Austria) 1:34.63

9. Stephan Goergl (Austria) 1:34.66

10. Fritz Strobl (Austria) 1:34.67

11. Bruno Kernen (Switzerland) 1:34.69

12. Stephan Eberharter (Austria) 1:34.70

13. Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway) 1:34.83

14. Didier Cuche (Switzerland) 1:34.88

15. Peter Fill (Italy) 1:34.93

16. Alessandro Fattori (Italy) 1:35.10

17. Tobias Gruenenfelder (Switzerland) 1:35.24

18. Paul Accola (Switzerland) 1:35.26

19. Hannes Trinkl (Austria) 1:35.43

20. Vincent Lavoie (Canada) 1:35.46

21. Jakub Fiala (U.S.) 1:35.50

22. Bode Miller (U.S.) 1:35.56

23. Michael Gufler (Italy) 1:35.68

24. Ambrosi Hoffmann (Switzerland) 1:35.76

25. Patrick Staudacher (Italy) 1:35.87

26= Yannick Bertrand (France) 1:36.15

26= Didier Defago (Switzerland) 1:36.15

28. Antoine Deneriaz (France) 1:36.16

29. Marco Buechel (Liechtenstein) 1:36.33

30. Roland Fischnaller (Italy) 1:36.36

Other North Americans:

DNF: Bryon Friedman (U.S.)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Men’s Super G

Kvitfjell, Norway, March 7, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Rahlves, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

2 Solbakken, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

3 Maier, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

4 Raich, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

5 Walchhofer, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

6 Knauss, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

7 Gruber, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Schifferer, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

9 Goergl, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

10 Strobl, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

The men have completed 36 of 40 scheduled events (38 races and two combineds). … One race in each discipline remains at the World Cup Finals. … It’s the 23rd win of the season for Atomic skis, all in men’s races.

The top 15 skiers are all within the same second. … The three on the podium are separated by less than two tenths. … It’s the seventh career win for Daron Rahlves and his third of the season. … It’s also his third win at Kvitfjell, the previous two coming in back-to-back DH victories in March 2000. … It’s the ninth win of the year for the U.S., all coming from Rahlves and Bode Miller. … That’s the most since 1995. … It’s the 141st World Cup win for the U.S. … Rahlves (7) moves past Kristina Koznick (6) and Cindy Nelson (6) on the all-time U.S. win list into sixth place behind Steve Mahre (9) and Picabo Street (9).

It’s the fourth career podium for Bjarne Solbakken, all this season. … The last Norwegian to win at Kvitjefll was Lasse Kjus 3/2/1997. … It’s the 78th career podium for Hermann Maier and 28th in super G (out of 34 total super G’s entered). … He makes the podium more in super G more than 82 percent of the time.

It’s a career best finish for Vincent Lavoie of 11 completed World Cup races. … It’s the fifth scoring result of the season for Jakub Fiala, and his second best result behind a 13th at Beaver Creek in December. … Fiala just misses qualifying for the World Cup Finals. … It’s the 24th scoring result of the season — in 36 chances — for Bode Miller. … It’s his fourth-best SG result this season.

Maier extends his World Cup overall lead to 1165-1098 over Miller. … Stephan Eberharter is third at 1083 and Benjamin Raich fourth at 1063 with four races remaining. … Rahlves moves into fifth place overall at 882. … Rahlves jumps to second in the super G standings behind Maier, who had previously cinched the title. Maier leads 480-318 over Rahlves with Bjarne Solbakken third at 269 with a single race remaining.