29/02/2004 14:00. KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) _ Norway's Truls Ove Karlsen posted his first World Cup victory Sunday, winning a classic slalom, while Bode Miller blew a chance to score crucial points in the chase for the overall title. Karlsen, who was fifth after the opening leg, charged down the Podkoren 3 course in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 42.72 seconds. His previous best slalom result was a fifth place finish in Park City last season.

Tom Stiansen

Teammate Tom Stiansen delivered a blistering second effort to climb from 12th in the opening leg into runnerup position in 1:42.80 for his first podium finish in two years. Austrian Mario Matt crossed third in 1:42.99. Manfred Pranger, who was leading after the opening run, went out midway down the second run. It marked the third time this season that the Austrian led in the first run but failed to win. He was fastest in the first leg in Madonna di Campiglio only to finish third. He crashed after leading in Adelboden. Benjamin Raich, one of Miller's rivals for the overall title, also skied off course in the second leg. Miller, who has always done poorly in the slalom at this classic Slovenian resort, failed to qualify for the second leg. In his first trip down, he charged aggressively out of the start hut, fumbled on the flat and went wide on a gate, then hiked back up to get back on course. He completed the run but finished 50th. "I wouldn't change my tactic if I could," Miller said. "Things happen pretty quickly in slalom. It doesn't mean if you take risks you'll go out. Just like you can take no risks at all and still go out on the fifth gate. That's slalom. "I felt good on my line, then suddenly I was on my hip. Once I got back into the race, I took a lot of risks and I was fine to the finish." The American has never scored points in Kranjska Gora, going off course four times and failing to qualify in two others. This latest setback could prove costly for Miller, who is looking to become the first American overall champion in more than two decades. The slalom was an opportunity to collect crucial points for the American, who is locked in a battle with Hermann Maier, Raich and Stephan Eberharter for the overall title. Six races remain on the World Cup schedule including one more slalom, a giant slalom, a pair of super-Gs and two more downhills. Miller is the only skier to have competed in every World Cup race last season and so far this winter. The slalom was a chance to gain ground as neither Maier nor Eberharter compete in the event. Raich, a technical specialist, was also looking to make up points in the slalom. Miller had regained the overall lead from Maier on Saturday with a victory in the giant slalom. The American currently tops the table with 1,084 points. Maier slipped to second with 1,076 points. Raich is now third on 999. "I'll just have to ski fast in the downhill and super-G," Miller said. "I would have liked to ski fast in both anyway, but now I have to."

Truls Ove Karlsen

Miller takes overall, discipline lead with giant slalom win 
 
28/02/2004 14:05. KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) _ American Bode Miller won a men's World Cup giant slalom Saturday, vaulting him to the top of the overall and discipline standings. Miller blitzed down the tight and turny Podkoren course in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 13.01 seconds, a solid .25 seconds ahead of surprise runnerup Alberto Schieppati of Italy, who recorded his best career result. Another Italian, Alexander Ploner, tied with Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg for third in 2:13.61. France's Freddy Rech, second after the opening leg, dropped slightly into fifth after his second trip down to collect the first World Cup points of his career. With the 100 points from his victory, Miller overtook Austrian hero Hermann Maier atop the overall standings. The American now leads with 1,084 points. Maier, who finished 12th, 1.60 off the pace, slipped to second with 1,076 points. Benjamin Raich, who had a disastrous, error-strew opening effort and finished 17th after his second run, is now third on 999. "I wanted to win today," said Miller, who is normally satisfied with simply being fast. Miller has won 12 races in his career, including five this season _ the most since Phil Mahre in 1983 when he won the World Cup's overall and giant slalom titles. More than 60 centimeters (two feet) of snow the previous couple of days set a soft stage for the weekend's races, a key round in the fight for the overall title between Maier, Raich, Stephan Eberharter and Miller, who is looking to vault from third to first place and become the first American overall champion in more than two decades. Seven races remain on the World Cup schedule including two slaloms, a giant slalom, a pair of super-Gs and two more downhills. Miller also took the lead in the giant slalom standings with 410 points. Finland's Kalle Palander lost the lead of the discipline standings in the opening run when he caught a ski and missed the second-last gate. He remained on 349 points. "It will be really difficult to catch up with him (Bode) in the final race in Sestrieres to get the giant slalom title," Palander said.
results 

General Standing
 
World cup Leader

Miller Bode
12.10.1977 (Franconia)
Ski: Rossignol
 
  Miller Bode  1083
  Maier Hermann  1076
  Raich Benjamin  999
  Eberharter Stefan  959
  Palander Kalle  846
  Kjus Lasse  824
  Rahlves Daron  732
  Walchhofer Michael  693
  Knauss Hans  669
  Schonfelder Rainer  645   

World cup Leader

Paerson Anja
25.04.1981 (Tarnaby)
Ski: Salomon
 
  Paerson Anja  1381
  Gotschl Renate  1208
  Montillet Carole  935
  Gerg Hilde  870
  Dorfmeister Michaela  852
  Riesch Maria  825
  Ertl Martina  746
  Meissnitzer Alexandra  609
  Poutiainen Tanja  577
  Goergl Elisabeth  568
 
Next Races

06.03.2004 Kvitfjell (NOR) DH
07.03.2004 Kvitfjell (NOR) SG
10.03.2004 Sestriere (ITA) DH
10.03.2004 Sestriere (ITA) DH
11.03.2004 Sestriere (ITA) SG

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