. world ski news : Blardone wins World Cup event, Miller rallies for second - 12 January 2005 - 10:53
ADELBODEN, ( 11/01/2005 14:42 ) Switzerland (AP) _ Massimiliano Blardone was nearly perfect on Tuesday in winning his first World Cup race. World Cup overall leader Bode Miller faced near-disasters on his two runs in Tuesday's giant slalom, but still finished second to pad the American's overall World Cup lead and move him into the No. 1 spot in giant slalom. Blardone mastered bad lighting in the opening leg and massive pressure in the second to tame the Chuenisbaergli course _ one of the circuit's steepest and toughest _ in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 19.84 seconds.
Miller, who lost a pole in the first run and nearly performed the splits near the finish in the second leg, took second (2:20.02) with third for Finland's Kalle Palander (2:20.23). It marked the first Italian giant slalom victory at this World Cup stop since Alberto Tomba won here in 1995. "This is a great place for my first career victory," said Blardone, runner-up in the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden. "I've always been top-10 here and Italians have done well here in the past. "Finally my time has come." Miller leads the overall standings with 988 points followed by Austrian Benjamin Raich (690) and defending champion Hermann Maier (551). The American also leads giant slalom with 340 followed by Canadian Thomas Grandi (302) and Blardone (266).
"It was a great race today," Miller said. "This kind of difficult classic really raises the level of skiing and I think we saw today some of the best skiing we've seen. "I think that's why I was able to save myself from falling in the second run and still ski fast in the first run without my pole. This kind of competition brings out the best in everyone." Palander's last podium finish came in the season-opener in October. He was the runner-up in the World Cup giant slalom and slalom standings last season. "It's nice to be back on the podium," Palander said. Grandi, who won back-to-back giant slaloms in Alta Badia and Flachau before the holiday break, struggled little sunlight as the first racer in the opening run and settled for 12th place (2:21.38). "I thought it was going to be an advantage to start first," Grandi said. "But in fact, it was a pretty big disadvantage.
"I was pretty nervous having the red bib today. I was in an unfamiliar position: favorite, starting No. 1, lots of things." American Daron Rahlves, third after the first run, suffered a frightening crash only a few gates from the bottom, but walked away. Leading at the final interval, Rahlves looked poised to claim his first giant slalom podium finish when he lost control descending the steep final pitch. Hitting a bump at an estimated 70 kph (45 mph), his knees slammed into his chest, which sent him cartwheeling into a full backward somersault.
Miller watched, hands over his mouth from the finish area, as Rahlves crashed heavily in a safety netting, where he lay motionless for several moments. "I just have a headache," Rahlves told The Associated Press. "I'm starting to feel a lot of sore spots now. It's like someone took a baseball bat and knocked me around. I'm a little out of it right now. "I'm happy I'm walking. When you take a crash and get up, it's good news."
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