. world ski news : 3 x 3 - 17 December 2004 - 23:51
VAL GARDENA, 17/12/2004 14:35, Italy (AP) _ Michael Walchhofer won his first World Cup super-G race Friday to lead an Austrian sweep of the top three places. Overall World Cup leader Bode Miller of the United States finished fourth. Walchhofer came second in the downhill here in each of the past three seasons. This was the third World Cup win of his career following a combined victory in Kitzbuehel in 2002-03 and a downhill in Lake Louise, Canada, last season. Walchhofer covered the 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) long Saslong course in 1 minute, 31.17 seconds. Defending overall champion Hermann Maier was second, 0.12 seconds behind, and Benjamin Raich finished third, 0.47 seconds back. Miller was 0.86 seconds off Walchhofer's pace. The race marked the first speed event this season in which Maier has finished ahead of Miller, shaving 30 points off Miller's overall lead on the Austrian. Miller, who has won six of 11 races this season, still holds a commanding 780-419 lead, however. At 1.92-meters (6-foot-5), 95 kilograms (209 pounds), the massive Walchhofer is built perfectly for the high-speed gliding that the relatively straight Saslong course demands. Miller, who is slightly smaller, was in the lead after his run. By the time he had taken his boots off, however, Raich, the next skier to come down, had beat him. Walchhofer then posted the fastest time and Maier was the last of the super-G specialists to hit the course. Two-time defending champion Antoine Deneriaz of France, who finished 15th Friday and is built similarly to Walchhofer, is favored to win the more traditional downhill scheduled for the Saslong on Saturday.
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