50th World Cup win for Hermann Maier

Kvitfjell, Norway, March 6th - 2005. After capturing his fifth gold medal in Bormio's giant slalom, Hermann Maier reached his second main season goal today in Norway's Kvitfjell where he celebrated his official 50th World Cup win in crushing once more all his rivals in Super-G.
It's his first win within 24 hours on the demanding “Olimpiabakken” course on which he has won a total of five races since 1997. In 2001, he also won a downhill and a Super-G on that slope, yet not in two consecutive days. A second downhill won by Stephan Eberharter took place between the two events he won.

Maier beat by impressive 83/100 of a second Switzerland's Didier Defago, already 2nd two weeks ago in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Swiss moves-up into 3rd place in the Super-G World Cup standings ahead of USA's Daron Rahlves. Daron, the winner in last year's Super-G in Kvitfjell, was 3rd at 88/100, only a mere 1/100 ahead of Benjamin Raich, a solid 4th.

Bode Miller was “only” 5th after clocking once more the fastest times in the upper part of the demanding course. Yet a mistake in the lower part cost him a spot on the podium and precious World Cup points. His lead in the Overall standings shrunk to 52 points before the Finals in Lenzerheide. Maier is now 3rd with a delay of 182 points on him!

Canada's Erik Guay was an excellent 6th - his best performance this season and his best in Super-G since Lake Louise 2003. His teammate François Bourque, 3rd in Germany two weeks ago in that specialty, confirmed his potential with a solid 12th place.

Hermann Maier at Tomba's level

Maier was particularly pleased by his third season's win which helped him to officially join Italy's skiing legend Alberto Tomba who also won 50 World Cup races in his career from 1987 to 1998. “I didn't expect to win with such a margin, I did even better than in my best years today,” said a happy Hermann Maier after the race. “I think it's because I feel so relaxed and because I'm totally enjoying what I'm doing. It was a demanding Super-G, the way I like it, with lots of tough turns and great weather conditions,” he added.
“I achieved a solid run from the beginning on and I kept on pushing hard until the finish line. It's nice to win with such a margin, it makes it really exciting. I think I have found the best tuning for my equipment and I feel ready for more at the Finals in Lenzerheide.”

In his mind, Maier has won 51 World Cup events, but he was disqualified in Val d'Isère in December 1997 after clocking the bets total time after he took off his skis in the finish area prior to the zone allowing it.

With this 22nd Super-G win his World Cup career, Hermann Maier regained the lead in the Super-G standings which he hopes to win for a sixth time since 1998.
In Lenzerheide, he still has a theoretical chance to fight for the Overall Trophy since he is less than two hundred points behind Bode Miller.

But he doesn't want to put extra pressure on his shoulder now. “The Overall World Cup was not a major goal for me this season, that why I preferred testing new technical solutions in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and here to be perfectly ready for the coming Olympic season.”
“What I found during the past weeks will help all the Atomic skiers to be more efficient in the coming winter.”

“Today, I reached my second main goal after the GS gold medal in Bormio. I was aiming to equal Tomba's record this winter and I'm really proud to have achieved this performance here in winning both races. This hill is quite challenging, normally you don't win here with such a margin.”

Maier, who plans to continue racing until 2007, wishes now to get closer to Stenmark's record of 86 victories. “I can't beat his mark, but I'm very happy to have done so well after losing two seasons because of my motorcycle accident,” Maier also said.

Defago's motivation

Didier Defago was also happy to reach his third podium this season, his second in a row in Super-G. This outstanding performance propelled him to 3rd place in the Super-G World Cup standings, a position he will try to defend next week in Lenzerheide. The Swiss has been particularly consistent this winter, which was not the case three years ago when he won his first race in Val Gardena. He is also 6th in the Overall Standings - by far his best position in his World Cup career.

Daron Rahlves, who trails him by four points in the Super-G classification, was glad to reach his second Super-G podium this year after missing victory by 1/100 in Kitzbühel last January. A double winner in downhill in March 2000, Daron also won the Super-G last winter. “I'm still fighting hard for my first season victory, I still have three races left,” the Californian said. “It has been a while since I was on a World Cup podium, so I'm pleased but I definitely aimed for more.”

The ten points he took away from Benni Raich in beating him by 1/100 may count a lot at the end of next week in Lenzerheide where the downhill and the Super-G races are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
In fact, the Austrian regrets to have lost precious points this weekend by only a few hundredths of a second. “Yesterday, I missed the 6th place in downhill by only 18/100 of a second and today Daron beats my by 1/100, it's frustrating because I skied really well at the beginning of both races,” Raich said. “I clocked the fifth best intermediate time in the downhill, but I lost a lot at the bottom. I could have been much closer to Bode now!”

Miller expected more

Yet Bode Miller can say the same. The champion from New Hampshire surely expected more from his race after clocking excellent intermediates times in the first parts of the course. “I made a really bad mistake in a turn prior to the final part, it could have been quite brutal there,” he explained afterwards. “Such mistakes cost too much time, I should have reached the podium today.”

It's only the second time this season that Benni Raich beats him in a Super-G. In Val Gardena, the Tyrolian was 3rd just ahead of him.
The American has to achieve some great races in the next speed races in Lenzerheide to build-up a sufficient lead prior to the last slalom on Sunday. Only the top-15 scores points at the Finals!
It's the first time that Bode Miller leads the Overall Standings at the beginning of the Finals which promise to be quite exciting now.

Patrick Lang