Adelboden: Swiss skier Berthod overtakes 26 racers in second run for stunning SL win    

Sunday, 07 January 2007  ADELBODEN, Switzerland — In one of the most stunning results in recent World Cup history, Switzerland's Marc Berthod won his first career World Cup race Sunday coming from way back in the pack to leapfrog past big guns Benni Raich, Giorgio Rocca and others.
    Starting with bib No. 60, Berthod finished 27th in the first run, but skied flawlessly in the second run and as visibility worsened for the leaders in the reverse-30 format, Berthod's time held up, ending a seven-year winless streak in slalom for the Swiss men. It was also the first World Cup win in any discipline for a Swiss man in almost three years and 103 races.
    ''This is so cool,'' Berthod said. ''My goal this morning was to qualify for the second run and I won the race. It's a huge surprise.'' 
    The 23-year-old from St. Moritz won on home soil with a two-run time of 1 minute, 47.42 seconds, with Raich second, .26 back, and Austria's Mario Matt third, .38 back. First-run leader Markus Larsson of Sweden made several mistakes in the second run and finished fifth.
    It was the third career top-10 result for Atomic skier Berthod, who was second in the Beaver Creek super combined on Nov 30 and seventh in an Adelboden GS in January 2005. His previous best slalom result was 16th at Adelboden one year ago.
    American Bode Miller was 11th in the first run, but fell victim to equipment woes when he lost his right ski in the second run as he sought to finish a slalom for the first time since Jan. 22, 2006, when he was 18th at Kitzbьhel, Austria. The 29-year-old Miller has now completed only three of his last 19 World Cup slalom races.
    Ted Ligety, second at Alta Badia, twice missed a gate and did not finish the first run. The third skier out of the start hut, Ligety skidded onto his side just a few gates into his run. The Olympic combined gold medalist hiked back up to ski the gate he'd missed but went out again a little lower down.
    Sweden's Andre Myhrer, the winner of the slalom at Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December, also skidded out with slush shooting into the air behind him on run one. Overall leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway also failed to finish the opening run, as did Croatia's Ivica Kostelic and Austria's Manfred Pranger.
    It rained during the first leg and Berthod, the 60th skier to start, had to deal with deteriorating conditions on the wet and slushy Kuonisbaergli course.
    The top 30 skiers in the opening leg qualify for the second but race in reverse order. That meant Berthod was fourth to start the final leg and he enjoyed better, cleaner course conditions.
    Berthod watched as one skier after another was unable to better his time.
    ''I had a strong lead at the finish, so I was very pleased when it became a top 20 potential result, and then a top 15, and then a top five, and then a podium. And suddenly there was nobody left at the start. It was a great time for me,'' Berthod said.
    Berthod had the fastest second leg, 1.53 seconds quicker than Manfred Moelgg of Italy.
    ''He was three seconds behind me in first run but I saw he had a strong second run on the TV,'' Raich said. ''Normally it's impossible to come from so far back to win but sometimes conditions are so difficult and then it's possible.
    ''When this situation occurs you need to make good runs and make the most of it. He did that.''
    The last Swiss man to win a World Cup race was Didier Cuche, who won a downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 2004. The last Swiss man to win a World Cup slalom was Didier Plaschy at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in 1999.
    Croatia's Kostelic, who started 64th in a slalom in Aspen, Colorado, in 2001, won with the highest bib number.
    Larsson still leads the slalom discipline standings with 225 points after four races. Raich moved from fifth into second with 180 points, while World Cup slalom champion Giorgio Rocca of Italy is third with 150.
    Svindal maintained his lead in the overall rankings after 18 events with 639 points. Cuche is second with 571 points, while Miller is third with 540. Raich is fourth with 458.  

Miller's slalom form picks up
    "Bode was skiing well, and he's clearly back in form for slalom," men's head coach Phil McNichol said. "He was rolling, and it was pretty exciting and then — boom! He's done. He had a good first-run effort, skied it smart and fought well, so we can take some encouragement from that.
    "It was raining first thing this morning and then it stopped as the first run got going and it was sunny by the end of the run although the last five, six, seven guys had some fog up top. These were wet, wet spring conditions with decaying ice under it in spots. It was not an easy day," he said. "We had 14 guys from outside the first 30 racers make it into the second run."
    While no U.S. skier finished, McNichol said, "Hopefully we can take something from this. It was pretty cool to see this Berthod kid come out of that 60th spot and get into the second run. Maybe that will inspire some guys that they can do it, too."
    The men head to Wengen, Switzerland, for the 77th Lauberhorn downhill plus two other days of racing. They face a super combined Friday and a slalom Sunday in addition to the showcase DH Saturday on the World Cup's longest downhill run.

— USSA and The Associated Press contributed to this report
 

Adelboden: Swiss victory is a long time coming       
By Erica Bulman, The Associated Press    

Sunday, 07 January 2007  ADELBODEN, Switzerland — It was a long time coming, and it came from a very unexpected source.
    Marc Berthod won his first career World Cup race Sunday to finally end a three-year winless streak for Switzerland's men, one that stretched to seven years in slalom.
    The 23-year-old skier, a complete outsider who arrived in Adelboden having only completed two of the 16 slaloms, became the first Swiss man to win a World Cup race since Didier Cuche clinched a downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 2004.
    The last Swiss man to win a World Cup slalom was Didier Plaschy at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in 1999.
    ''I had the feeling like Didier Cuche five years ago when he won, like I was dancing on the snow,'' said Berthod, who was runner-up in a super-combi at Beaver Creek, Colorado, last November but was never higher than 16th in a World Cup slalom.
    ''I could really let myself go and liberate myself. It was really great. It's such an incredible gift for me, for Switzerland, for the home crowd.''
    Berthod won with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 47.42 seconds. Olympic champion Benjamin Raich of Austria was second, 0.26 back, and Mario Matt was third, 0.38 off the pace.
    Once an Alpine skiing superpower, Switzerland has struggled while Austria has taken over for the last 14 years.
    Last year, the Swiss finished the season fifth in the nations standings, with just a quarter of the points Austria collected.
    Repeated changes in the coaching staff, a focus on the nation's stars at the cost of the development teams and poor equipment choices all led to Switzerland's decline.
    ''Things seem to be going better now,'' retired Swiss star Michael von Gruenigen said after watching Berthod post the Swiss men's first World Cup win 103 races.
    ''As a federation we are getting more, better skiers. With Berthod, Daniel Albrecht and Marc Gini the team is going to do well. They are getting stronger and stronger, and they can pull up the next generation, too.''
    Von Gruenigen, a four-time winner of the World Cup giant slalom title, joined the Swiss team in the early 1990s, when the country was still a force and featured Paul Accola, Daniel Mahrer and Franz Heinzer.
    Berthod, the 60th skier to start in the rainy opening run, overcame crumbling, slushy conditions to cross 27th in the opening leg and qualify for the second.
    With the top 30 skiers in the opening leg running in reverse order in the afternoon leg, Berthod kicked out fourth and enjoyed better, cleaner course conditions.
    Berthod watched nervously from the finish as the skiers following him were unable to improve on his time.
    ''I think I feel more relaxed and more capable of achieving a great result when nobody is expecting it,'' Berthod said. ''I think today was perfect because I had a high start number and the conditions ended up playing in my favor.
    ''Of course maybe things will be different now in the future. But maybe not.''

Adelboden: Raich snaps slump, wins GS  

     
Saturday, 06 January 2007  ADELBODEN, Switzerland — Olympic and World Cup discipline champion Benjamin Raich recorded his first World Cup giant slalom victory this season Saturday, besting Italy's Massimiliano Blardone and Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal.
    The Austrian had an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 25.29 seconds on his two runs on the Kuonisbaergli course. Blardone clocked 2:26.14 and Svindal finished in 2:26.29.
    Bode Miller skied out in the first run, while Ted Ligety placed 17th on the day.
    "Today was a bit of a beating, no question. We should have done better, a lot better," U.S. men's head coach Phil McNichol said. "To crap out like this in the last GS before worlds [Feb. 3-18 in Are, Sweden] was unfortunate. We needed to get something done and we just didn't do it."
    A midrace bobble cost Ligety after he had a mistake at the top of his second run, McNichol said. "Today was about start numbers; only five guys got into the second run from outside the first 30 ... and that was because Bode went out and [Austrian Rainer] Schoenfelder and [Austrian Mario] Matt, and a couple of others. Jimmy [Cochran] skied pretty well, but he was coming out of 50th start, so he didn't have much of a chance, but he gave it a good effort, as usual."
    Miller was fast up top but appeared to misjudge the way the slope fell away from him, dropping onto his side and veering off-course. Miller skidded through the first interval with a tiny 0.06 deficit, though the more demanding parts of the course lay below.
    "We have to turn this around tomorrow [in slalom]. This was a kick in the gut," McNichol said.
    The men race slalom Sunday and then move to Wengen, Switzerland, for three days of racing, starting Friday and including the 77th Lauberhorn downhill.
    Raich previously had just one top-three result this season, a victory in the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland
    ''I was a little nervous at the start of the second leg but just enough to keep me on my toes,'' said Raich, who was leading after the first run. ''It's great to win here again. It was really tough, especially on a long and difficult course like this one.''
    Raich won the notoriously tough Adelboden giant slalom here last season.
    Raich — the only Austrian to record a top-three result in a technical discipline this season — is in danger of losing his World Cup overall and giant slalom titles to Svindal, who leads in both.
    ''I've never been fast in Adelboden, so I didn't think I'd be able to keep the leader's jersey,'' said Svindal, whose best career result on this slope was a 15th place in 2004. ''But I still have it.''
 

Kranjska Gora: Schild wins SL No. 5; Richardson 8th       

Sunday, 07 January 2007  KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Overall standings leader Marlies Schild of Austria remained dominant in women's slalom Sunday, winning her second straight slalom race and fifth in the discipline this season. American Kaylin Richardson was a career-best eighth and Julia Mancuso 18th.
    Schild negotiated the icy Podkoren course with a two-tun time of 1 minute, 40.96 seconds, with Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic in second, trailing by .66 seconds, and Slovakia's Veronika Zuzulova third, 1.65 back.
    American Resi Stiegler was seventh after the first run, but she straddled a gate midway down and had to pull out in the second run. Lindsey Kildow, who missed Saturday's giant slalom through illness, crashed out in the opening leg, and Caitlin Ciccone did not qualify for second run.
    “It is absolutely unbelievable what is happening to me right now,” Schild said. “Winning just seems so easy for me. I’m having a great time. I feel so confident, which helps me to ski each time with great determination. I’m having the best time in my career for the moment.
    “I am just so sad that the next World Cup slalom is in two months because I feel able to do so much in that specialty. It was like a dream today — my skis were just flying over the snow."
    Zahrobska improved her best career result by one place — from third to second — and set her sights on a victory.
    ''Marlies is skiing very strongly this season and it will be difficult to do better, but there are still more slalom races and the World Championship coming up,'' Zahrobska said.
    Zuzulova's podium finish equaled her best result from two seasons ago in Zweisel, Germany.
    “I’ve found it difficult to combine two good runs,” Zuzulova said. “I was thinking maybe I could do more after the first one and it was good.”
    Sunday's result was the first career top-10 finish for Richardson, whose previous best was 13th in a Reiteralm super G on Dec. 16, 2006. Her previous slalom best was 17th at Spindleruv Mlyn in 2005 and again last week at Zagreb. Starting 35th Sunday, she sizzled on the second run, recording the third-fastest time behind Schild and Zahrobska.
    Schild has won all but one of the six slaloms this season, including last week in Zagreb, Croatia. Therese Borssen of Sweden, who came in sixth Sunday, won the only other title, at Semmering, where Schild was third. Schild also won a super combined at Reiteralm on Dec. 15.
    The Austrians have dominated this season, winning 11 of 16 races, including three sweeps of the podium.
    Two-time overall champion Anja Paerson, who has been struggling since knee surgery during the offseason, smacked a gate with the inside of her wrist and went out of the race — her second straight elimination from a slalom.

Richardson finding the right stuff
    "Not bad, huh? She learned from Zagreb," U.S. tech head coach Chris Knight said, a reference to Thursday night in Croatia, when Richardson was 15th in the first run and got anxious before her second run under the lights. "She laid one down this time. Kaylin's skiing so well — good position, good balance, she's stable. It's all coming together for her."
    Richardson, 14th in the morning run, had the third-fastest second run to finish in 1:43.19.
    "I'm smiling. That was an exciting second run," said Richardson, a three-time NorAm slalom champion who got her first two World Cup top 15s last month (in a super G and super combined). "Today was a good day. The first run I skied well on top and had a bobble on the bottom, so the second I wanted to do exactly the same but keep it together and fix the bottom part of my run."
    Jubilant in the finish, Richardson added, "I just skied really well. I did what I know how to do. Yeah, it's a big confidence for me.
    "This course is pretty much in the shadow all day long, and there's no snow any other place. The race organizers did a great job of preparation. The conditions were so good, and the [course] sets were good, too, and I heard that from so many of the other girls on other teams. Chris and an Italian set the courses and they were so nice ... fun to ski."
    She agreed with Knight that Zagreb played a key role in her top-10 breakthrough; she was 15th in the first run but slid back to 17th that race. "Zagreb was big for me. It's all a building process with everyone. The World Cup is tough — it's the World Cup! — and getting that second run is a 50-foot wall. But once you've been on top a couple of times, you start to believe you have what it takes ... and I know I have it."
    Team dynamics also played a role in her breakthrough, according to Richardson. "It's an exciting time for the U.S. Ski Team. All the girls are skiing fast. Caitlin's skiing so fast, too, and I've told her. This was only her sixth World Cup and I skied so many World Cups before I got that second run, and she'll get there. We've got so much positive energy bouncing off each other ... and, of course, we're dominating the speed events."
    Knight also praised organizers for the "fantastic" conditions. "They know how to do much with so little, and it's been great here. You still could qualify from last place in that first run," he said.
    "We're in a good place with slalom — we've got three girls making top 10s [Stiegler, Mancuso and Richardson] and making runs that are really competitive, and we'll get Lindsey back in there, too. She's a strong slalom skier," the coach said, "but she's got so much going on ... and she's having such great results in downhill, but we've got a slalom and super combined next weekend along with a downhill, so a couple of days of training slalom can get her back in there, too"
    The World Cup has been plagued by unseasonably warm weather this season. The races in Kranjska Gora were substituted for an event in Maribor, Slovenia, canceled due to a lack of snow.
    The next women's World Cup races include a three-day visit to Zauchensee, Austria — a super combined, downhill and super G, starting Friday.

— Manuиle Lang, USSA and The Associated Press contributed to this report
 

Kranjska Gora: Hosp tops Gius, Poutiainen in GS       

Saturday, 06 January 2007  KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Nicole Hosp took advantage of falls from her top rivals to win a women's World Cup giant slalom Saturday and her first title of the season.
    The Austrian, who had placed second four times coming into the race, kept her lead from the first leg to finish with a total of 2 minutes, 9.85 seconds on the difficult Podkoren course, which is a regular stop on the men's circuit.
    ''I've fought very hard this season and had a lot of second places, so I'm very happy about this race,'' Hosp said.
    Nicole Gius of Italy, who started in 26th position, finished second, 0.43 seconds behind, while Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, the 2005 slalom and giant slalom champion, placed third, another 0.14 seconds back.
    Libby Ludlow was the only American in the top 30, finishing 14th after starting in 55th.
    Chemmy Alcott of Britain, who started back in 38th, surprised the field by coming in third after the first run, but she could not emulate her good rhythm or line when she came out onto the piste again and wound up 16th.
    The Austrians have dominated women's racing this season, winning 10 of 15 races — including three sweeps of the podium.
    ''Everybody is skiing very good compared to last season. Maybe the secret is we keep pushing each other,'' Hosp said.
    However, Kathrin Zettel, who won both the previous giant slaloms, hooked a gate with her wrist and did not finish the first run, as did another favorite, Marlies Schild, who slid off a tight gate.
    Olympic champion Julia Mancuso of the United States was another casualty from the top flight in the first leg. She started first out of the hut, but slid wide off the tricky course after hitting an icy patch at the top.
    World giant slalom champion Anja Paerson, who has been struggling since knee surgery during the offseason, made a big mistake at the top section in the opening leg and had her work cut out in the second for a podium chance. Instead of her trademark aggression, she looked weak and wobbly, dropping back into 12th from ninth.
    The day was a bit of a downer for U.S. women's gate coach Chris Knight. "It was a pretty disappointing morning," he said, "but a great result for Libby. It's her best and we can't complain about that. I think she worked out some things for herself and knows how fast she can go and now that she's got that feeling, she'll be able to do it again."
    But Ludlow as the only U.S. finisher left Knight frustrated. "The first run was a tricky set and [Mancuso] was carrying too much speed coming into this delay over a blind roll," he said. Mancuso, the top-ranked U.S. GS skier, went off-course, hiked to try and salvage the run but finished well back and did not earn a second run.
     "She's in such good form I don't think it will knock her back," Knight said. "And Resi [Stiegler] was right in there even starting 57th. If she had skied the bottom the way she skied the top she would have been 18th or 19th in that first run." Stiegler was four-hundredths from getting a second run, finishing 31st.
   The victory was Hosp's sixth career win and fourth in the giant slalom, putting her atop of the discipline standings with 230 points after three races. Although the Austrian all-rounder previously finished second four times, she said she never gave up hope of victory this season.
    ''I was starting to think about always coming second, but I knew I would win this year,'' Hosp said, shrugging off claims that reaching the podium was made easier in a field weakened by the absence of retired overall champion Janica Kostelic and injury-returning Paerson. ''It's always tough and new girls are coming up, making it more and more difficult. Women's skiing is still really good. There are so many girls who ski strong.''
    Among the really good was Canadian Genevieve Simard. She used the fifth fastest second run to overcome a so-so opening heat and finish 13th. "I was happy with my second run," she said. "It was set much more the way I like, with big sweepy turns. So it gave me a lot of motivation and was a good opportunity for me. The second run tapped into my potential and I believe this is just the start for me. Now I have to keep improving and building confidence."
    The World Cup has been plagued by unseasonably warm weather this season. The race in Kranjska Gora substituted for a race in Maribor, Slovenia, canceled due to a lack of snow.
    The women's circuit continues with a slalom on the same track on Sunday.