Wengen: Matt wins super combi; Ligety 10th

Mario Matt won a World Cup super combi on Sunday, benefiting from being the first skier down the slalom course.

WENGEN, Switzerland — Mario Matt won a World Cup super combi on Sunday, benefiting from being the first skier down the slalom course.
    The Austrian slalom specialist completed the race — composed of a downhill leg and a slalom run — in a combined time of 2 minutes, 27.87 seconds to collect his first World Cup victory in almost two years.
    ''This means a lot to me. I'm elated,'' said Matt, who last season struggled after switching from slalom specialist to all-around skier. ''Last year was very hard for me. It was a big change for me and I also had problems with my slalom equipment. It was not a good year.''
    Marc Berthod, the surprise winner of a slalom in nearby Adelboden last week, took second in 2:28.25. Swiss teammate Silvan Zurbriggen was third in 2:28.28.
    Ivica Kostelic, winner of the last super combi at Reiteralm, Austria, was fourth in 2:28.48.
    Matt was 34th in the morning downhill leg on the Lauberhorn course, and therefore should have run 34th the slalom. But four racers ahead of him withdrew from the race — including Austrian teammates Hermann Maier and Georg Streitberger — boosting him into 30th position.
    Because the top 30 skied the slalom in reverse order, Matt was the first down a Jungfrau course that had been affected by rain and warm weather all week.
    The slalom course became increasingly chopped up with later skiers having to negotiate deep ruts.
    "It was definitely an advantage for me to start first in the slalom. I knew if I could do a good slalom, I could finish in the top five or even make a podium,'' Matt said. ''But still, in Wengen the downhill is very long and as a slalom skier you need to show guts to ski the tough sections and you have to take a lot of risks.
    ''As a slalom skier you have to make sure you don't lose too much time in the downhill.''
    Organizers had replaced a scheduled slalom with a super combi, believing the course would not hold up under two runs. Brown soil could be seen through the thin layer of deteriorating snow.
    At 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles), the Lauberhorn is the longest downhill on the World Cup circuit and one of the most physically demanding slopes. Though shortened by 258 meters (846.46 feet) because of fog at the top of the mountain, it was still a grind for the slalom skiers, accustomed to short, quick runs.
    Peter Fill of Italy, who posted the fastest time in the downhill leg, finished 21st, 2.38 back.
    Bode Miller, the winner of Saturday's downhill, was second going into the slalom leg but straddled an early gate after getting caught in the deep ruts.
    Miller has yet to complete either a slalom or combined event this season, though bad luck has been a big factor.
    Looking increasingly fast in the twisty discipline, he lost a ski in the second run of a slalom in Adelboden.
    Starting next week in Val d'Isere, France, the super combi rules will change. Starting then, rankings from the downhill will not change even if skiers withdraw. Those who finish outside the top 30 in the downhill will be forced to run after the top group in the slalom.
    Had those rules applied Sunday, Matt would have started the slalom in 30th position, on snow already used by 29 other skiers.
    Matt's last World Cup win came in a slalom at the finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in March 2005. It marked his first podium in a World Cup combined event.   
    Two years ago, Matt moved from the slalom squad to the famous WC4 team filled with great allrounders such as Hermann Maier, Michael Walchhofer and Benjamin Raich, but he needed more time than planned to find his best rhythm.
    The 28-year-old could not do better than fourth in slalom and 14^th in a super combined last season, quite disappointing results for him. Last summer, he changed his boot supplier to Nordica.
    “This season is really excellent, I’m so pleased by my great form,” said 23-year-old Berthod, who was second in a super combi at Beaver Creek earlier this season.
    “To make the podium for the second time in a week, and again in front of the home fans, is wonderful,” Berthod said. “It also gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races because I know I can still do more. It’s exciting to have this red jersey and I’ll do my best to keep it as long as possible.”
    Kostelic will also travel to Val d’Isère after his strong performance Sunday that put him in third place in the super combined standings. “I think I made the best out of the situation, the slalom course was already in bad shape when I started and it was not possible to make up more time on Matt,” explained the skier from Zagreb, who clocked the second-best time in the slalom leg. “It’s just too bad it was not possible to race on the lower part of the downhill course which was in much better shape. It was surely an unfair race for most of us.”
    The super combi was initially scheduled for Friday, but it was postponed due to warm weather and rain. It replaced a slalom that was slated for Sunday. That slalom will be picked up later in the season.
    Olympic combined gold medalist Ted Ligety of the United States finished 10th, 1.21 off the pace.
    Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who was eighth, remained atop the World Cup overall standing with 703 points after 20 races. Didier Cuche of Switzerland is second with 651 points, while Miller is third with 640.
    Berthod took the lead in the World Cup combined standings from Svindal and leads with 173 points. Svindal dropped with second with 172 points, and Kostelic is third with 150.

— Patrick Lang and The Associated Press contributed to this report

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THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's super combined, Wengen, Switzerland, Jan. 14, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Matt, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
2 Berthod, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Zurbriggen, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia
4 Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Albrecht, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
6 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
8 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Baumann, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
10 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men's super combined, Wengen, Switzerland, Jan. 14, 2007. … It is the 20th of the men's 38-race World Cup schedule. … The third of five scheduled combineds.
&n
bsp;   It is the sixth career World Cup win for Mario Matt. … His first of the season and his first non-slalom win ever. … He finished the DH leg in 34th, but four racers ahead of him declined to race the slalom leg, giving him the first start in the slalom.
    It is the third career podium for Marc Berthod, all from this season. … He has been second in two combineds this season, also placing second at Beaver Creek, Nov. 11. … He also won the slalom at Adelboden a week ago. … He has just 13 Cup scoring results to his credit.
    It is the second career podium for Silvan Zurbriggen. … He placed second in a night slalom at Sestriere Dec. 13, 2004. … His previous best this season had been fourth in the Hinterstoder SG Dec. 20.
    It is the 21st career top 10 for Ted Ligety. … His seventh this season in eight completed races. … He placed fourth in the Reiteralm combined Dec. 10 and was also 10th in combined at Beaver Creek earlier this season. … It is the 10th scoring result of the season for Steven Nyman. … The 11th score of the season for Francois Bourque.
    Aksel Lund Svindal (eighth in race) maintains the lead in the World Cup overall standings 703-651 over Didier Cuche (did not race). … Bode Miller (DNF SL) is third in the standings at 640. … Marc Berthod leads the combined standings by a point 173-172 over Svindal with Ivica Kostelic in third at 150. … Ted Ligety is top American in the combined standings tied for sixth at 102. … Winning margin is .38. … Top six within a second. … top 17 within two seconds.

Wengen men's World Cup super combi results

1		150707	MATT Mario	1979	AUT 2:27.87
2		510997	BERTHOD Marc	1983	SUI	2:28.25
3		510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	2:28.28
4		380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	2:28.48
5		510993	ALBRECHT Daniel	1983	SUI	2:28.71
6		50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	2:28.72
7		510727	DEFAGO Didier	1977	SUI	2:28.88
8		421328	SVINDAL Aksel Lund	1982	NOR	2:28.89
9		51215	BAUMANN Romed	1986	AUT	2:29.00
10		534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	2:29.08
11		51005	SCHEIBER Mario	1983	AUT	2:29.16
12		501026	RAINER Niklas	1983	SWE	2:29.46
13		501076	OLSSON Hans	1984	SWE	2:29.54
14		421400	MYHRE Lars Elton	1984	NOR	2:29.68
15		50041	WALCHHOFER Michael	1975	AUT	2:29.72
16		102873	KUCERA John	1984	CAN	2:29.78
17		50547	SCHOENFELDER Rainer	1977	AUT	2:29.81
18		192746	THEAUX Adrien	1984	FRA	2:29.98
19		190915	BOURGEAT Pierrick	1976	FRA	2:30.12
20		500656	LARSSON Markus	1979	SWE	2:30.15
21		292455	FILL Peter	1982	ITA	2:30.25
22		560332	JERMAN Andrej	1978	SLO	2:30.29
23		292967	EISATH Florian	1984	ITA	2:30.33
24		533866	NYMAN Steven	1982	USA	2:30.67
25		191462	PAQUIN Pierre	1979	FRA	2:30.83
25		102814	BOURQUE Francois	1984	CAN	2:30.83
27		192665	GRANGE Jean-Baptiste	1984	FRA	2:30.87
28		191740	CLAREY Johan	1981	FRA	2:31.57
29		50824	DREIER Christoph	1981	AUT	2:31.86
30		191964	POISSON David	1982	FRA	2:31.92
31		150398	BANK Ondrej	1980	CZE	2:32.08
32		201439	STEHLE Johannes	1981	GER	2:32.27
33		480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS	2:32.45
34		292120	SIMONCELLI Davide	1979	ITA	2:32.75
35		380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	2:32.90
35		293006	INNERHOFER Christof	1984	ITA	2:32.90
37		501101	BYGGMARK Jens	1985	SWE	2:33.24
38		191415	BOTTOLLIER-LASQUIN Marc	1979	FRA	2:33.35
39		192593	BAL Julien	1984	FRA	2:33.46
40		290998	STAUDACHER Patrick	1980	ITA	2:33.51
41		293141	VARETTONI Silvano	1984	ITA	2:35.83

Did not start:
STREITBERGER Georg (AUT), MACARTNEY Scott (USA), SINE Gareth (CAN), KEPPLER Stephan (GER), PERKO Rok (SLO), JAERBYN Patrik (SWE), REICHELT Hannes (AUT), GUAY Erik (CAN), MAIER Hermann (AUT), JOHNSON Justin J (USA)

Did not finish:
WOJTIUK Jan (POL), LANNING Thomas (tj) (USA), ANDERSSON Oscar (SWE), DEFLORIAN Mirko (ITA), COCHRAN Jimmy (USA), GORZA Ales (SLO), SENONER Lucas (ITA), MILLER Bode (USA)

Disqualified:
BRIDGWATER Mark (NZE), VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus (MEX), TREJBAL Filip (CZE)