VAL GARDENA, 18/12/2004 14:45, Italy (AP) _ Germany's Max Rauffer won a downhill Saturday for his first World Cup victory in a race in which all of the favorites faired poorly.

Rauffer covered the classic Saslong course in 1 minute, 50.59 seconds, giving the German men's team its first World Cup win in almost 13 years. Juerg Gruenenfelder of Switzerland finished only 0.05 seconds behind for his first podium finish, and up-and-coming Austrian Johann Grugger was third, 0.13 seconds back.

Overall World Cup leader Bode Miller of the United States finished a disappointing 14th, blaming the strong winds that caused the course to be shortened slightly.
Miller still holds a commanding lead in the overall standings, however. Defending overall champion Hermann Maier came in 37th and fellow Austrian Michael Walchhofer, winner of Friday's super-G, was 20th. Maier and Walchhofer entered the day second and third in the standings behind Miller.

Antoine Deneriaz of France, winner of this classic downhill each of the past two seasons, made a major slip up midway through his run and finished ninth after posting faster splits than Rauffer on the top part of the course.

Local favorite Kristian Ghedina of Italy came in 12th. Level with former Austrian great Franz Klammer on four victories, Ghedina was aiming for a record fifth win on the Saslong. Just by entering Saturday's race, however, he equaled Austria's Peter Wirnsberger, an eight-time winner in the 1980s, for the most downhills raced on the World Cup circuit with 150.

Rauffer's best previous result was a third-place finish in the Kvitfjell, Norway downhill in 1999-2000. The men's circuit traverses the Gardena pass for a giant slalom in nearby Alta Badia on Sunday.  

 

Women's downhill canceled  
 
 
VAL D'ISERE, 18/12/2004 10:11, France (AP) _ A snow storm and by high winds forced organizers to cancel a women's World Cup downhill Saturday. Several centimeters of snow and winds of up to 150 kilometers descended on the classic French resort overnight. It was not immediately known when or where a make up downhill might be staged. Continuing bad weather was expected to disrupt a second downhill scheduled for Sunday. The women had training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday but Friday's practice was also canceled due to snowfalls and wind. Last year, a men's downhill and giant slalom scheduled on the Oreiller Killy course were moved a week even before racers arrived at the French resort because of warm weather and a lack of snow in Val d'Isere. There has not been a women's World Cup downhill staged in Val d'Isere since 1997, when Katja Seizinger of Germany won her second in a row at the classic French resort.