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Alta Badia, Italy — December 21, 2003
Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), putting discretion ahead of valor, grabbed another World Cup giant slalom podium
Sunday, finishing third and preserving his lead in the GS World Cup points. Dane Spencer (Boise, ID) played exorcist with his local "demons"
to finish 11th and Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) was 28th as the schedule began a break for Christmas.
The women's GS race in St. Moritz, Switzerland was cancelled due to fog. Italian David Simoncelli gave the crowd plenty to cheer about as he led the first run and went on to win in an unofficial 2:33.90 with Kalle Palander of Finland second in 2:34.93. Miller, third in the first run, finished third with a time of 2:35.11. Spencer's time - including the second-fastest second run - was 2:36.71 and Rahlves, hiking a gate on the second run after going down on his right hip, finished in 2:43.66. A week earlier, when Alta Badia picked up a GS from snowless Val d'Isere, France, Palander - the defending World Cup slalom champion - won his first giant slalom with Simoncelli second and Miller, who had won the first two giant slaloms of the season, in fourth. Miller stands No. 1 in GS after four races with Palander, who trained extensively in GS during the preseason to add a second event, in second place.
Podium means a good race "I didn't attack with the same aggression [on the second run]. I shut it down a little because I realized I'd blow out," Miller explained. Spencer was 30th in the first run, so he led off in the second run and laid down a peach of a run, which had him holding first place through 15 skiers. "The second run was a lot more fun," Spencer said as he watched racer after racer fail to match his run. "I got a little lucky hanging in there [at 30th] on the first run and then I was able to do what I wanted on a buff run.
Spencer routed his Alta Badia "demons" "Alta Badia hasn't always been good for me, so it's kind of nice to exorcise the demons on this hill. It's the first time I've scored here." Rahlves, who had been fourth Friday in a super G and tied for seventh Saturday in downhill in nearby Val Gardena, was 14th in the first run. But he lost his footing midway through the second run and went down on his hip before getting up, hiking the gate he missed and then finishing to salvage some World Cup points; racers in the top 30 must finish within eight percent of the leader to earn World Cup points. "It was a big left-footer [righthand turn, planting the left foot to make the turn] and it just went out from underneath me," Rahlves said. "I was psyched to have that great first run; it was one step further in GS and too bad on the second but still good to have something going in GS." The men resume their racing schedule Dec. 28 with a downhill in Bormio, one of the classics in alpine racing and host to the 2005 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships.
MEN'S ALPINE WORLD CUP
Other U.S. skiers
11. Dane Spencer, Boise, Idaho, 2:36.71 Did not qualify for 2nd run: Chip Knight, Stowe, Vt.; Thomas Vonn, Newburgh, N.Y. DNF-1: Jimmy Cochran, Keene, N.H. WORLD CUP STANDINGS (13 races)
U.S. skiers
8. Miller, 337 Giant Slalom (4 races)
Other U.S. skiers 21. Spencer, 44
— Courtesy of US Ski Team |
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