Raich wins super-combined skiing, Janka bombs

Benjamin Raich struck a blow back for Austria in winning the World Cup super-combined event here on Friday, his 35th victory on the international ski circuit.

All the talk before this three-day event, which also sees the racers competing in the super-G on Saturday and giant slalom on Sunday, had been of Carlo Janka and his Swiss team-mates.

Janka had notched up an impressive triple set of victories in Beaver Creek last weekend but could not make it four in a row.

The Swiss tyro notched up the second fastest super-G but made a bad mistake on the top of the slalom course on the Face de Bellevarde and bombed out when pushing to correct it.

But the 31-year-old Raich, the reigning Olympic slalom and giant slalom champion, made all his experience over the shorter event show, producing a virtuoso display of slalom skiing.

The Austrian clocked 49.94sec in the slalom which added to his fourth-fastest super-G gave him a total time of 2min 07.71sec, 0.89sec ahead of team-mate Marcel Hirscher.

To rub further salt into Swiss wounds, another Austrian, Romed Baumann, finished equal third with Italy's Manfred Moelgg at 1.55sec.

"It's a very important moment in the season to get a first place," said Raich, who hailed Janka's feat in Beaver Creek before adding that the Swiss was a skier he had "great respect" for but did not fear.

"That's the spice of skiing. If it's too easy to win or be at the top it's not interesting and becomes boring.

"My win and our podium finish are important for the Austrian team after two tough weeks in Canada and the United States. It's good for us and the coaches," he acknowledged.

"I had two podium finishes in the US but no big victory so I'm very happy."

Raich added: "I like this mountain. It's a big challenge in any discipline. But that's skiing and that's why I'm skiing. It's always a tough hill and the snow conditions were not good but I found a good line."

The 20-year-old Hirscher, who claimed a third-place finish in the super-combined event here last season, said that Raich had been one of his childhood heroes and admitted he was still pinching himself.

"When I was 10 years old, I was watching Benny and now I'm sat next to him and I can't quite believe it's true.

"I can learn a lot from him given that he's had so many successful races, podium finishes and Olympic medals.

"Benny knows how to focus on skiing, when to push hard or when to use your brain - that's something I sometimes don't do," Hirscher said.

Raich responded by saying he didn't feel as aged as some might think.

"I don't feel old but I am one of the older guys," he said with a wry grin.

American Bode Miller finished in fifth spot, 1.69sec off the pace, while Sweden's Markus Larsson nipped in for sixth ahead of Switzerland's Sandro Viletta, who had clocked the fastest super-G time in the morning's opening run.