It was quite a statement today by veteran Benjamin Raich and his younger Austrian teammates. With Carlo Janka and the Swiss garnering most of the attention as of late, Raich led a 1-2 and tied for 3rd Austrian finish in today's World Cup super combined.

Raich, the 2005 combined World Champion captured his fifth career victory in super combined winning by a margin of 0.89 over 20-year-old teammate, Marcel Hirscher. 23-year-old Roman Baumann also contributed to the Austrian party finishing tied for third with Italy's Manfred Moelgg, 1.55 seconds off the pace.

Skiing nearly flawless, Raich clocked the quickest time of the day in the afternoon slalom, 49.94.

"It was a really good run in slalom. I had a nice line which is important on this steep course," said Raich about his super combined victory, which today involved one run of super-g (as opposed to the usual downhill) and one run of slalom. "I am very happy about this big victory for me and also the whole team. It was important for us because the last two weeks have been very hard. We are satisfied and happy," he said. "Today is a good day for Austria."

Switzerland's Carlo Janka, seeking his fourth consecutive victory after last weekend's sweep in Beaver Creek was second after the morning super-G portion, only trailing teammate Sandro Viletta by 0.21. The "Iceman" was extremely smooth on the bumpy lower section of a tough course slashing three-tenths of a second on Viletta. He had been behind by 0.50 at the second intermediate split.

However, leaving the starthouse second to last in the afternoon slalom, Janka made two significant mistakes near the top of the course and eventually skied off.

"The slalom was too difficult for me," said Janka in the finish area. "The slope and course was difficult and I'm not the best slalom skier. After the super-G, I saw a lot of good slalom guys in front of me and behind me. A victory today was difficult, but I tried."

Janka's friend and teammate, Viletta who led after the super-G, also had a bevy of problems on the steep and icy Face de Bellevard slope. He was more than two seconds slower than Raich quickly dropping to seventh overall and giving the Austrian, who was fourth after the morning super-G, his first win of the season.

"I like this hill for sure, that's clear," said Raich about the Face de Bellevarde piste. "I was very good last year here in super combined (where he also won) and also in GS at the World Championships so I think it suits me very well."

Nearly as impressive as Raich, was his significantly younger teammate Marcel Hirscher. Hirscher, who sat fourth after the super-G climbed up to second after a solid slalom run. It was a career best result for the native of Annaberg, Austria.

"It was an amazing success for me, especially with my super-G being so unbelievable," said Hirscher. "When I came to Val d'Isere, I was thinking whether or not I should race. It was unbelievable when I crossed the finish line in the first position (with Raich and the two Swiss still to come)."

The young Austrian admitted he was in awe standing on the podium next to the 31-year-old, Raich.

"When I was ten years old, I was always watching Benni," said Hirscher. "He's a great skier and he was my idol ten years ago. It's amazing to be on the national team with him and share success with him today."

Defending combined World Champion, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was fifth fastest in the super-G, but fell to ninth after a less than average slalom. Svindal admitted to making too many mistakes and also mentioned experiencing flu-like symptoms since returning from North America.

American Bode Miller just missed his first podium of the season by 0.14 seconds. The two-time overall World Cup champion seems to be rounding into form and ended his day in fifth place.

France's biggest hope, Julien Lizeroux, last season's World Championship super combined silver medalist, never found his rhythm going wide on early gates and losing valuable speed near the top of the super-G course. The 30-year-old Frenchman was nearly three seconds behind Viletta at the second timing interval. He ended up a disappointing 43rd in the super-G, but moved up to finish 25th after the slalom.

The top Frenchman of the day was Sebastien Pichot, from nearby Bourg Saint Maurice. He finished 13th.

Switzerland's Didier Defago, second in last weekend's super combined in Colorado also had problems on the upper section of the super-G course and finished in 19th. He didn't start in the afternoon slalom.

Seventeen of the 80 competitors failed to complete the super-G phase on the tricky Face de Bellevarde slope. Of the 50 racers who started the afternoon slalom, nine did not finish.

A surprise guest at today's race was four-time Olympic athletics gold medalist, Michael Johnson. The current 400-meter World Record holder is currently working on a documentary about downhill racing for the BBC.

Action in Val d'Isere continues tomorrow on the perilous Face de Bellevarde with the super-G. Racers kick out of the gate at 10:30 local/CET time.

By Brian Pinelli
FISalpine.com
Saturday 12 December 2009