AP News
(2009-12-11 14:36:39)
VAL D'ISERE, France (Reuters) - Experienced Austrian Benjamin Raich stopped the stunning run of Swiss sensation Carlo Janka by coolly winning a World Cup super-combined event on Friday.
Raich, who was in fourth position after the super-G section, held his nerve down the treacherous Bellevarde piste to clock the fastest slalom time and an overall winning mark of two minutes 07.71 seconds.
Newcomer Marcel Hirscher came second, 0.89 seconds back, to complete an Austrian one-two in this French Alps resort while Italy's Manfred Moelgg and Austrian Romed Baumann shared third place, both 1.55 seconds off the pace.
Janka, who won three events in as many days last week at Beaver Creek, was in second position after the super-G but skied out in the slalom, failing to become the first man to post four successive World Cup wins since Austrian Hermann Maier in 1998.
The 31-year-old Raich's 35th World Cup win was a relief for Austria, who had been in the shadow of Alpine rivals Switzerland since the start of the season.
"I knew I was close but it's a relief to have won," Raich said after posting his first World Cup victory of a season that includes the Vancouver Olympics in February.
"This is very important for the Austrian team," he added. "It was not easy for us to see the Swiss do so well. This is very good for our morale."
MANY STRUGGLED
Many skiers struggled down a steep, icy piste on a gorgeous day, but not the technically-gifted Raich.
"I'm happy because I skied really well in both the super-G and slalom," the former overall World Cup champion said. "This is a very demanding course but I like it. It's exciting because even if you make mistakes you can still recover, providing you reach the bottom."
All eyes were on the 23-year-old Janka after his Beaver Creek hat-trick and he suggested another win was within his reach when he managed the second-fastest time in the super-G despite not having fixed his boots properly.
"I did my job and gave my all," he said after an error-ridden slalom run that ended when he missed a gate halfway down.
"Things like that happen," added Janka, who burst into the limelight here with his first World Cup win in a giant slalom a year ago before becoming a world champion in the same event in February, also in Val d'Isere. "It's not the end of the world."
Janka's room mate Sandro Viletta, who clocked the fastest time in the super-G leg, finished seventh overall, while team mate and super-G world champion Didier Cuche did not start the slalom because of a painful neck and back after a training crash.
A super-G and a giant slalom will complete the weekend program here with Raich dreaming of emulating Janka with a hat-trick of his own.
(Editing by Clare Fallon)
