Are: Imboden wins GS qualifying race       
By Sam Flickinger    
Monday, 12 February 2007 
skiracing.com

ARE, Sweden — Swiss-born Urs Imboden, now racing for Moldova, won the first-ever World Championships qualifying race Monday for the men’s giant slalom event, topping a field of 100 competitors vying for 25 open spots for Wednesday’s event.
    The qualification race was made necessary by the huge number of entrants for the first men’s technical event at these worlds.
    After a week of speed events, Tuesday night’s women’s GS kicks off a week of slower speeds and tighter turns in Are. There are no qualifying races for the women's events. 
    Imboden topped the field with a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 26.81 seconds. Japan’s Akira Sasaki was second in 2:27.54, and Dalibor Samsal of Croatia finished third in 2:27.74.
    Imboden didn’t have to battle first-run leader Ivica Kostelic in the second run after the Croatian star was disqualified after it was discovered riser plates on his skis were too large, and the distance between the bottom of Kostelic’s ski and the bottom of his boot exceeded the FIS-mandated maximum of 55 millimeters.
    The top 25 finishers Monday will be added to the start list for Wednesday’s race, joining the 50 top-ranked GS skiers on the World Cup Start List who had reserved spots in the race. The four starters in the GS from the U.S. Ski Team — Bode Miller, Ted Ligety, Tim Jitloff and Jimmy Cochran — each had reserved spots.

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