Benjamin Raich took top spot in dramatic fashion, finishing with a time of 2:18.95, in the giant slalom final in Are, Sweden.

The Austrian has put himself in a great position to claim the overall World Cup, ahead of tomorrow's slalom.

Ted Ligety finished with a time of 2:19.08, earning second spot. The American had won the giant slalom title last season, but finished in third place this season.

Didier Cuche skied himself on to the podium with a time of 2:19.66 with only two competitors to go, and won the giant slalom title outright.

Cuche claimed the discipline Crystal Globe, having accumulated 474 points through the season. Benjamin Raich finished second on 462 points, with last year's winner Ted Ligety coming third on 421 points.

The weather in Are changed rapidly as a cloud bank closed in over the mountain. Organisers decided to speed up events to try and pre-empt the worsening conditions but after the halfway mark the competitors where faced with deteriorating visibility and a light snow fall.

Jean Baptiste Grange nailed his run in the failing light, to finish fourth with a time of 2:19.68. The Frenchman is out of the running for the overall World Cup crown, but he leads the slalom discipline standings, and will have the chance of competing for glory in the last individual race tomorrow.

Philip Schoerghofer finished fifth with a combined time of 2:20.09. The Austrian had finished the first round ninth, but improved greatly in the second run.

Thomas Fanara finished sixth with a time of 2:20.11, for his 11th World Cup top ten finish.

Marcel Hirscher improved greatly to finish seventh with a time of 2:20.21, despite finishing the first run in 19th.

Ivica Kostelic finished eighth with a time of 1:07.94. The Croatian is still in with a change of claiming a podium finish in the overall World Cup, his career first, but will need to impress in tomorrow's slalom.

Werner Heel who won the super-G yesterday failed to finish. The Italian was tricked by a compression in terrain in the final section and was unable to recover his position to complete the race.

Stephan Goergl also misjudged his line, and was surprised by the same patch as Heel; however the Austrian managed to complete the race. Swiss Marc Berthod was another casualty to the technically challenging piste.

Only two points now separate first and second place in the race for the overall World Cup, with Aksel Lund Svindal still top of the standings on 1009 points and Raich second on 1007. Cuche is third on 919 points, whilst Kostelic is fourth on 837, and has an outside chance of stealing third spot but will need to win the last race.

The decisive individual event for the men's World Cup will be the slalom on Saturday morning, with the first run starting at 09:00 (CET), and the second run at 11:30 (CET).

Friday, 13 March 2009 12:19
fisalpineworldcup.com

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