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www.worldskinews.com/Sestriere
(ITA) 13.12.2004
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Men Slalom - Race report
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[ Report
] [ Results
] [ SL
Standings ] [ Overall
Standings ]
[ Interview
with Bode Miller ]
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6th win for Bode Miller
Sestriere, Italy, Dec.13th. Bode Miller continues to surf on his winning wave - a day after his impressive victory in Val d'Isère's giant slalom, the skier from New Hampshire clearly won his first slalom of the season, beating by 1,27 seconds Switzerland's Silvan Zurbriggen, who reached his first World Cup podium, while Finland's Kalle Palander, the winner here at the Finals, was 3rd at 1,41. In December 1971, Tyler Palmer also won that slalom - his last victory.
Three years ago, Miller achieved the same remarkable performance in winning both the giant slalom in Val d'Isère and the night slalom in Madonna di Campiglio!
Austria's Benjamin Raich, who captured the first slalom in Beaver Creek where Miller skied out, is 4th at 2,31 seconds yet he keeps the lead in the slalom World Cup standings. Japan's Akira Sasaki was a strong 5th ahead of another American, Tom Rothrock.
Italy's Giorgio Rocca, 2nd in the first run, run into troubles at the end of the second run and lost too much time to score some World Cup points.
Norway's veteran Lasse Kjus, 2nd in Val d'Isère yesterday, was a solid 22nd - scoring his first slalom points this season. He should soon find by his best form also in the speed events.
Miller leads now the Overall World Cup points with 730 - 391 more than Hermann Maier. If he keeps the same pace in the coming weeks, he will clearly breaks the record of 2000 points set by “The Herminator” in March 2000 during the Finals in Bormio! He can also beat the season's record of 13 wins in a winter set by Ingemar Stenmark in 1979 and by Hermann Maier in 2001!
A new record for Bode
With this 18th World Cup win, Miller set kind of a record by sweeping victories in all four alpine specialties - slalom, giant slalom, Super-G and downhill - in the shortest span of time. He accomplished the feat in just 16 days, between Lake Louise, Canada and Sestriere. But he doesn't seem to be a big deal for him!
"I don't feel any different than before," he said after recording his sixth victory in ten races this season. "These are the kinds of things you tell your kids about. It's more important for me to have fun on a course!"
Miller posted the fastest time in the opening leg in mid-afternoon despite a smooth and controlled run, and remained in the lead thanks to a second more aggressive run.
"I had a good first run but I hadn't been on my slalom skis for a while so my legs felt a bit mushy," said Miller, who was anxious to quickly win his first slalom.
"During my second race, I felt relaxed and confident enough to really attack and take a few more risks. It was fun. I made a couple of mistakes but I really enjoyed it."
Miller joins Luxembourg's Marc Girardelli as the only skier to celebrate victories in all four disciplines in a single winter. Girardelli, the only five-time Overall World Cup champion, was the first to accomplish that feat during the 1988/1989 season, but it took him more than two months to do it. He also won a combined during that same season - what Miller can also do next year in Wengen or Kitzbühel! The skier from New Hampshire began his winning streak with a downhill in Lake Louise on November 28th
"At this point I just really enjoy what I'm doing," Miller said. "I think being compared to some of the guys they're comparing me to is a unique opportunity. But if you're happy with what you're doing, records don't mean as much. I think it's just fun to ski four events."
Miller has now the best chance to become the first U.S. skier since 1983 to win the Overall World Cup title. Phil Mahre was the last American to win the prestigious Crystal globe in 1981/1982 and 1983. He won a total of 27 World Cup events in his career from 1975 to 1984!
A happy Silvan Zurbriggen
Silvan Zurbriggen, the silver medal winner in slalom at the 2003 Worlds in St Moritz, was happy to finally reach his first World Cup podium thanks his extraordinary second run in which he beat Miller by 22/100. It helped him to move up from 10th to 2nd place. It has been a while since a Swiss skier was on a slalom podium. The last Swiss slalom win took place in November 1999, when Didier Plaschy won a slalom in Slovenia's Kranjska Gora. “This night I was able to ski as well as in training, I felt great coming down that second run,” said the elate Zurbriggen, a far cousin from the for-time Overall World Cup champion Pirmin Zurbriggen, who gave up ski racing in 1990. “This podium means a lot to me!”
Silvan, a surprising top-10 in Lake Louise's downhill, has the potential to become the next great Swiss overall champion.
Palander ready for more
Kalle Palander, 4th in Beaver Creek, survived several mistakes during his two runs before crossing the finish line into 3rd place. That's why he had a nice big smile over his face during the award ceremony. “I was lucky, I could have skied out,” he said with a grin. “The conditions were perfect and I took my chance. This result gives me much confidence before the giant slalom in Alta Badia where I won to do as well as last year!”
“Bode is skiing incredibly well, but he is not unbeatable yet. I'll keep on trying.”
“What he is doing is wonderful for our sport. We need heroes of his type - people like Girardelli, Tomba or Maier, champions who take risks and achieved unusual performances. It's just beautiful for World Cup skiing. He will bring more people into our sport, he makes ski racing fun to watch!”
After a nice night in his camper, Bode will travel to Val Gardena where the downhill training should start on Wednesday. Another interesting round with Herman Maier and the speed specialists is expected on the Saslong course over the weekend.
Patrick Lang
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