Herman Maier lead in Alpine Ski World Cup Super Giant slalom in Kitzbuhel, Austria !

24/01/2005 04:47 PST KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) - Austrian Hermann Maier posted the first World Cup race of the season Monday, edging Daron Rahlves in the Hahnenkamm super-G by just two-hundredths of a second.

Maier raced down the 2,280-meter Streifalm course in 1 minute, 22.39 seconds, avenging last year's devastating loss to Rahlves. The American handed Maier his first super-G loss on the famed course by a similarly small margin -- just .03.

Maier now has four super-G wins on the notorious course, including a stunning comeback victory, just five races after returning from a grisly motorcycle accident that nearly cost him a leg. He also won the famous downhill here in 2001.

Rahlves' second place was also a remarkable feat. He arrived in Kitzbuehel still in pain after a giant slalom crash in Adelboden two weeks ago and was unsure to race here.

Rahlves, who has 10 World Cup victories and finished fifth in last year's overall standings, was badly battered and bruised after a somersaulting spill during the Adelboden giant slalom and was forced to skip the downhill in Wengen last week.

But bad weather wiped out both Friday's super-G or Saturday's downhill, and Rahlves had an extra few days to recuperate when the super-G was rescheduled for Monday.

Maier's teammate, Fritz Strobl, was third in 1:22.93, followed by Didier Defago of Switzerland, who clocked 1:23.02.

World Cup overall leader Bode Miller tied for fifth with Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal in 1:23.06.

"I just skied badly. It was horrible execution," Miller said. "It's frustrating to ski so badly and finish so close. I put down 15 seconds of good skiing in a minute and 20 second-long super-G, and still finished fifth. You've got to be happy with that."

ERICA BULMAN, AP Sports Writer
Monday, January 24, 2005