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