ADELBODEN, Switzerland -- Ivica Kostelic of Croatia completed his excellent week by winning a World Cup slalom race Sunday, while Canada's Michael Janyk just missed the podium with a fifth-place finish.
Kostelic defended his big lead from the morning in worsening course and light conditions, and finished in a combined two-leg time of one minute 50.90 seconds.
"I've never lost a race after leading in the first run," Kostelic said. "It's a good feeling that you're winning, it gives me strength."
Marcel Hirscher of Austria was runner-up, 0.26 seconds back after being the only racer within 1.3 seconds of Kostelic in the morning. Austria's Reinfried Herbst, the defending World Cup slalom champion, was 1.29 seconds off the lead in third.
Janyk, of Whistler, B.C., was fifth after the first run. He finished 1.60 seconds behind Kostelic for a season-best result.
"The second run was a total battle," said Janyk, who won bronze in the slalom at the 2009 world championships. "I fought the whole way -- nothing came easy.
"I really liked my push today. I just want to put that in the bank and keep it going."
Brad Spence was 17th and Trevor White, also of Calgary, was 20th.
Kostelic has soared to lead the overall and slalom standings after an impressive eight-day spell.
The 31-year-old Croat won the parallel slalom event in Munich last Sunday, then finished second in his home slalom at Zagreb on Thursday.
"Munich was a real kicker for me. I feel pretty good right now," said Kostelic, looking ahead to the second half of the World Cup season. "It's a long way to go but it's better to be in front than be in the back."
Although a slalom specialist, he picked up useful World Cup points with a fifth-place finish in the classic Adelboden giant slalom on Saturday. He was 19th after the first run.
Kostelic now has 504 points, 69 ahead of Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal who tied for victory on Saturday despite a heavy cold and skipped the slalom.
Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland used his 10th-place finish in slalom to climb into third spot overall.
Victory for Kostelic, the Olympic silver medallist in slalom, was his 13th in World Cup events and 10th in slalom.
He holds a 49-point lead in the discipline standings over Andre Myhrer, who won in Zagreb. The Swedish racer placed 16th Sunday after a tough second run for late racers.
Hirscher skied aggressively, seeking the win despite the track breaking up on another warm day in Adelboden.
"I tried everything but Ivica was the better one," the 21-year-old Austrian said.
On a mixed day for the United States team, Ted Ligety and Bode Miller skied out early in their morning run.
"I was surprised by how fast it was up top and was making small mistakes turn after turn," said Ligety, who retained fifth place in the overall points race.
Ligety said snow conditions were difficult after course workers heavily salted the course to preserve Saturday's showpiece race.
"Yesterday they did a really good job. Today, the continuing warm and the salt has rotted it out," he said.
However, teammate Will Brandenburg scored his first World Cup points by finishing 24th.
The 24-year-old from Spokane, Washington -- who placed 10th in the Olympic super-combined won by Miller last February -- was 4.19 down on Kostelic.
"To do it here at Adelboden, where I've watched races (on television) for a long, long time is very special," said Brandenburg, who thought he skied too cautiously. "I'm a little bummed out about not taking advantage of that start position in the second run. I'll learn from everything."
High-ranked slalom specialists who failed to put down a clean first run included French pair Julien Lizeroux and Jean-Baptiste Grange, and the past two Olympic champions, Giuliano Razzoli of Italy and Austria's Benjamin Raich.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment