Twenty-five years after Phil Mahre, the triple Overall World Cup Champion in the early 1980s, and 10 years after AJ Kitt, America Bode Miller celebrated his very first World Cup victory in Val d'Isere, the first of the five major "classics" on the international ski tour.

The 24-year-old racer from New Hampshire, second a week ago in a slalom at Aspen, fought with impressive determination in his second run to beat by only 2/100 of a second France's favorite Frederic Covili, the winner in Soelden five weeks ago.

Austria's new ski hero, Stephan Eberharter, perfectly concluded his fantastic weekend with a strong 3rd place after setting the fastest time in the first leg. Italy's Massimiliano Blardone reached a career best 4th place in front of the reigning World Champion Michael von Gruenigen, who raced despite a cracked left shoulder suffered in training two days ago.

Eight Nations in the top-15
Two other French skiers also entered the top-15 as well as two Canadians, Jean Philippe Roy, 13th, and Thomas Grandi, 15th, after excellent second runs.

A total of eight nations had a least one skier among the top-15, a very positive situation for ski racing after the Austrian dominance in recent winters.

For once, no Norwegian could fight for a top position in this second giant slalom of the season. Kjetil Aamodt and Lasse Kjus had disappointing days as they failed to qualify for the second run, leaving only the young Bjarne Solbakken to score points by taking 22th place.

Stephan Eberharter, who for the fourth consecutive time finished on the podium since the season's start, built up his lead in the Overall World Cup standings while Covilli reinforced his position in the GS standings.

No surprise for Bode Miller
It's really not a surprise for him, his team or the other racers that Bode Miller clinched this first success today in Val d'Isere.

Last year, Miller captured a place on the podium in this race and he confirmed his talent in Aspen in slalom. Last October, he reached a promising 5th place in the opening race in Soelden despite making many mistakes in both runs.

This was again the case in the second run when he almost skied off the course on several turns.

"It's my style to attack, to take a maximum of risks," he said after the race. "This makes it more exciting and interesting for me, too. I was pretty relaxed and fluid in the morning but when I saw that I was so close to the leader, I decided to give it my all in the afternoon.

"It was really a tough run and I struggled a lot, but I always kept pushing myself," added Miller, the first US male to win a World Cup GS since the success of Phil Mahre in Japan's Furano in March 1983!

"It's good to show that you can win races with mistakes, that you don't need to ski perfectly to score a good result," he said.

"It's a long time now that I've felt able to win such a race and it's good to prove it finally. It's an important step, too, for the entire team, a signal to the other Americans who are also excellent skiers. It will give them great momentum for the coming races.

"We all trained well this summer and during fall, and it's time to show what we can do. We have a excellent team spirit and we are all excited that we are doing so well in this Olympic season. It's good forus that the Games will take place in the US in February, it will be a highlight of our careers.

"Yet there are many more races to come before the opening ceremonies, and I would like to ski as well in other events. I feel really comfortable in the technical events and I aim to improve in super G. I don't feel ready yet to take too many risks in downhill, because I just don't have the needed mileage under my skis to move at my best level."

"When I was younger, I liked to watch Michael von Gruenigen competing in GS, he was one of my role models. Nobody can feel the terrain as well as he does and his technique is just superb. I'm very glad and lucky not only to now be on the same tour, but also to use the same brand of skis. This helps us to work together, which is a great chance for me."

"But I also have a lot to say about Hermann Maier and his dedication. Nobody fights as hard as him from the start to the bottom. His determination and his concentration are unique. I learn a lot just watching some of the best skiers. Ski racing is quite an exciting sport."

Stephan Eberharter's great weekend
This is also Stephan Eberharter's opinion. The Austrian veteran, who turned 32 this year, had fun fighting once more for first place in that GS after crunching his rivals in the past two speed events. He was once more in the lead after the first run, but then he "ran out of gas," as he said, in the lower part of the second run.

"I was quite tired after the first run and I felt my age at the end of the race," he admitted with a smile. "I didn't train any GS this week so I could not express myself totally. In these conditions, I really enjoy this 3rd place. My first goal in this first part of the season was to find back my spot in the first seed in GS. I did it for sure now, so I'm happy.

"It has been an excellent week for me here and I don't care about missing the opportunity to become the first skier to win three consecutive races in three specialties in the same resort. This kind of record is not important for me.

"Now I will take a short and nice break at home before driving to Val Gardena where the next downhills are next week. I never did well on the Saslong course there, so I'm pretty relaxed. I feel confident and this can help me to improve my standard this winter. There are five difficult races to come in a week in Italy and Slovenia and the most important for me is to rest when I can."

On Monday evening, the next men's race, a night slalom, is planned in Italy's Madonna di Campiglio. Bode Miller will aim for another strong performance. Austria's Mario Matt and Croatia's Ivica Kostelic should be the skiers to beat nin that race.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com Correspondent