First win for Alois Vogl

WENGEN, Jan. 16th - German outsider Alois Vogl grabbed a surprise and sensational maiden World Cup victory on Sunday, winning a dramatic slalom race in Wengen with his blue Lange boots after the disqualification of Italy's Giorgio Rocca who straddled a gate on his way down the second run.


Vogl beat by 21/100 of a second his friend Ivica Kostelic, while Benjamin Raich, the winner of the Super-combined on Friday, was 3rd after making a few mistakes at the end of his second run.

Several outsiders took advantage of the problems of the main favorites as Bode Miller, Kalle Palander or the leader from the first run, Thomas Grandi who missed a gate at the middle of his second run but climbed back to finish 23rd, and Rocca to enter the top-10, as Canada's Patrick Biggs, 10th despite his number 59!
Raich took back the lead in the slalom standings ahead of Rocca and regained some terrain on Miller in the Overall World Cup.


First German win in Wengen since 1974!

Last month, the 32-year-old athlete from the Bayerischerwald region, South East of the country, was already an unexpected 3rd in Flachau, his best performance so far. He finished eight times among the top-10 in the last ten years prior his triumph today.

He gave the German men's team its first World Cup slalom victory in 14 years - the last German to have won a slalom in Wengen was Christian Neureuther, the father of Felix, in 1974!

Vogl has been on the World Cup tour since 1993 but his career has been plagued by health problems, especially strong pains at his back. He also hard a hard time keeping his place in the German team until the arrival of the new men's head coach, Austria's Werner Margreiter.

“It's incredible, something I never expected,” he said after the race. "To win a World Cup race was never even a dream for me because I didn't believe it was something that could really happen. I don't know what to say and what to think - I guess I'll need a few days to fully understand what's happening to me now.”

“The course was definitely very tough today but I was feeling pretty confident after coming third in the Flachau slalom. I've also been training with Ivica Kostelic and doing really well. My aim today though was just to be precise and aggressive with my skiing - to win is a complete surprise.”

Training with Ivica

“I was happy to have the possibility to train sometimes with Ivica Kostelic who is such a great skier and a nice guy too. I came in 2nd behind him in a FIS event last week in Adelboden so I knew I was in good shape. I have been very consistent in training in the last two years. I almost never ski out and this gave me great confidence. I just felt so sure since last winter. My 3rd place in Flachau boosted my moral and made me even more determined because I didn't ski at 100% there. I knew I could ski faster. I was happy with my first run this morning and I just try to ski at my normal level in the afternoon. But I didn't understand right away I won the race, because I saw that I was 2nd on the board behind Rocca. It's Ivica who told me the good news before carrying me on his shoulders in the finish area. It was also a nice feeling.”

Interestingly enough, Alois in another “older” skier celebrating his first win this season. In December, his teammate Max Rauffer and Canada's Thomas Grandi, also bron in 1972, were able to beat all the other favourites. “I had to wait a long time for this, so I really enjoy it,” he said with a grin.

The men now move to the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel to prepare for a super-G on Friday, the classic downhill on Saturday and a slalom and combined on Sunday.

Patrick Lang