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Canadian Grandi Steals the GS Show Val Gardena, Italy — December 18, 2004
Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA), looking to add giant slalom points in his bid to challenge for the overall World Cup title, had two solid runs Sunday to finish eighth in a giant slalom, the best World Cup GS result of his career, while Jimmy Cochran (Keene, NH) collected his first World Cup points, finishing 14th as three U.S. skiers broke the top 20. Canadian Thomas Grandi won the race while World Cup leader Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) missed a gate on his second run.
"My first World Cup top-10 in GS, and I know I've definitely got more potential, and I want to build on the confidence this one gives me," Rahlves said. "It's nice to get this event going" along with his downhill and super G. Grandi, second in the first run, had a time of 2:34.23 for a historic first Canadian World Cup GS victory after first-run leader Kalle Palander of Finland failed to finish his second run. Austrian Benjamin Raich, with the fastest second run, was second (2:34.80). Rahlves, 14th in the first run, was timed in 2:35.97 while Cochran - starting 45th - was 15th in the first run and had a two-run time of 2:36.54 with Eric Schlopy (Park City, UT) 20th in 2:37.30. Rahlves: "Tough to hold back..." "This is a tough hill," Rahlves said. "For me, the way I'm skiing now my confidence isn't high in GS but it's getting there. I was a little conservative in a few spots. This is such a challenging hill in the way it turns. You've got to be on top of it and skiing smart. It's hard for me to hold back but it's what I had to do." Cochran, conceding "It's good to get that monkey [scoring his first World Cup points] off my back," agreed. "The hill kinda suited me. It was icy and steep and turny... "This was the first GS I've raced where I also raced last year, so I knew the hill, knew what to expect. I knew I could punch it if I skied solid."
Dane Spencer (Boise, ID) was ninth in the morning run but had problems at the start of his final run and finished 28th, nearly seven seconds off the pace. Miller missed a gate about eight gates from the finish of the second run but retains his overall World Cup points lead with 798 to 479 for Hermann Maier of Austria; Rahlves, at 306, is fifth in the points.
Tech Head Coach Mike Morin said, "It's funny sometimes how some days, which look bad - like with Bode going out and Dane going down, end up being good in other ways. "Spencer was skiing like the wind when he went out, making a big mistake, but he got back in and finished. It's amazing to think we have guys like Schlopy and Spencer and Rahlves behind Bode, skiing for the top 10 and Jimmy's still got so much potential. This was a big breakthrough for him. "Three guys in the top 20, four in the points - we're smiling." Spencer "got twisted up near the top [of his second run], leaned in, went down, got back up - he hiked the gate and that cost him five or six seconds. But he came out gunning," Morin said, "and that was the way to do it. The most important thing to succeed on this hill is hitting it with intensity right from the start. Ski the first gate like it's the 15th. You're full-on attacking and Dane was going for it...and sometimes you pay for taking risks like that, but he's on top of his game. He gets another shot Tuesday...they all do." Morin also was pleased with Cochran's first top-30 finish because it secures another GS start spot for the U.S. Ski Team. "The guys have been on Jimmy - it's really gotten intense - about getting a result. We've got Chip [Knight - Stowe, VT] and 'Rotty' [Tom Rothrock - Cashmere, WA] winning NorAm giant slaloms, and they want to start on the World Cup, so Jimmy got us another start spot, which is outstanding." The men head next to Austria for another GS Tuesday in Flachau with a slalom Wednesday on the same hill.
MEN'S ALPINE WORLD CUP
1. Thomas Grandi, Canada, 2:34.23
8. Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl, Calif., 2:35.97
DNF-2:
— Courtesy of US Ski Team |
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