WORLD CUP BANSKO. Mario Matt is all the way back. At a World Cup slalom in Bansko, Bulgaria, Sunday (Feb. 27) Austrian Mario Matt registered his first trip to the top step of a World Cup podium since 2009. Not bad for a guy kicked off the team for poor performance.

A couple of injuries gave the 31 year old two-time World slalom champion (2001 and 2007) another shot at Cup action in time to catch the end of the January string of slalom races, picking off top 10 finishes at Adelboden, Wengen and Kitzbuehel. At World Championships he was fourth. In Bulgaria he won his 13th World Cup race.

Matt led after the first run and maintained composure to post the win over teammate Reinfried Herbst by .04 seconds. Freshly crowned World Slalom Champion Jean-Baptiste Grange was third, gaining ground on Cup slalom leader Ivica Kostelic, a first run casualty. With two slaloms remaining, at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia March 6 and at Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland March 19, Grange trails Kostelic by 36pts.

Matt told Austrian reporters he enjoyed a "huge sigh of relief," and said, "The time was ripe." He said in his most recent outings he had registered good second runs, but had lagged too far back after the first run.

"I knew that if I had a clever first the victory is possible."

He started the season outside of the top 30 seeded skiers. "I really wanted to save my season," he said.

Canadian Michael Janyk was fifth marking the ninth time in his career he has placed fifth or better in a Cup slalom. He is just the third Canadian to score that many top fives in slalom. "I'm really, really happy with my skiing and my approach to the day," said Janyk. "The result is good and bad. It's awesome to be top five and so frustrating to be just off the podium.

"It's so clear in my mind what I need to do. I know I can be on top of the podium."

Like Matt, Nolan Kasper was also enjoying being among the top 30 starters, a new experience for him on World Cup. He responded with a a career best tenth place result.

Kasper said it was just a good day. "It was sunny and the snow was a lot better than I thought it would be. I had a better start than I've had in the past because I was in the top 30 today. It was a pretty easy hill and course so you really had to be gunning from the get go. I just tried to make a little mistakes as possible and go fast."

Ted Ligety finished 17th, his third best slalom finish of the season.-hm

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Men's World Cup slalom, Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 27, 2011.
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Matt, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
2 Herbst, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
3 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Janyk, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Missillier, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
7 Pranger, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
8 Byggmark, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
9 Deville, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Kasper, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men's World Cup slalom, Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 27, 2011. ... It is the 30th of 39 races on the men's World Cup schedule. ... the 28th held. ... It is the eighth of ten scheduled slaloms. ... It is the fifth World Cup held at Bansko, the second men's race following yesterday's combined.

It is the 13th career World Cup win for Mario Matt, 12th in slalom. ... It is his first Cup win since March 14, 2009 at Are. ... It is his fifth result of the season and first podium, though he was fourth in slalom at Adelboden and at World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

It is the 16th career World Cup podium for Reinfried Herbst, all in slalom, but just the third time he has finished second. ... It is his second podium of the season having placed third at Adelboden Jan. 9.

It is the 18th career World Cup podium for Jean-Baptiste Grange, all in slalom or combined. ... It is his eighth podium of the season including the gold slalom medal from World Championships.

It is the ninth time Michael Janyk has placed fifth or better in a World Cup slalom. ... the third time this season. ... Among Canadians only he, Thomas Grandi and Betsy Clifford have scored more top fives in World Cup slaloms. ... It is a career best Cup result for Nolan Kasper and just his fourth scoring result. ... three of them this season. ... He is the ninth U.S. skier to post a World Cup top 10 this season. ... It is the third best slalom result of the season for Ted Ligety. ... It is the second scoring result for Patrick Biggs this season, both of them 22nd place finishes.

Ivica Kostelic (1st run DNF) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1294-725 over Didier Cuche (did not race). ... Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race) is third with 713pts. ... Ligety is the top U.S. skier in ninth with 528pts. ... Janyk leads the Canadian overall in 35th place with 172pts. ... Kostelic leads Grange 478-442 in the slalom standings with two race remaining. ... Andre Myhrer (2nd run DNF) is third at 333pts. ... Janyk is the top Canadian on the slalom standings list in 13th with 172pts. ... Ligety the top US skier in 22nd with 79pts. ... Kasper is 23rd with 68pts. ... Austrian leads the men's Nations Cup 4636-3114 over Switzerland. ... Italy is third with 2491pts. ... The U.S. in seventh with 1283pts and Canada ninth with 942pts.

SkiRacing.com
February 27, 2011

Place   Bansko (BUL)   Discipline   Slalom
Date   27.02.2011   Category   FIS World Cup
Race codex   0228   Gender   M
Valid for FIS Points   YES   TD Name   Petit Dominique (FRA)

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
 1  12  50707 MATT Mario  1979  AUT   54.21  56.14  1:50.35  0.00
 2  2  50605 HERBST Reinfried  1978  AUT   54.33  56.06  1:50.39  0.22
 3  1  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste  1984  FRA   54.89  55.94  1:50.83  2.65
 4  14  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix  1984  GER   55.10  56.08  1:51.18  4.59
 5  9  102435 JANYK Michael  1982  CAN   54.64  56.71  1:51.35  5.53
 6  8  192506 MISSILLIER Steve  1984  FRA   55.80  55.62  1:51.42  5.91
 7  13  50624 PRANGER Manfred  1978  AUT   55.00  56.50  1:51.50  6.36
 8  11  501101 BYGGMARK Jens  1985  SWE   55.23  56.35  1:51.58  6.80
 9  4  291145 DEVILLE Cristian  1981  ITA   54.84  56.78  1:51.62  7.02
 10  26  532138 KASPER Nolan  1989  USA   55.42  56.31  1:51.73  7.63
 11  49  511174 VOGEL Markus  1984  SUI   54.95  57.04  1:51.99  9.07
 12  42  293797 GROSS Stefano  1986  ITA   54.77  57.26  1:52.03  9.29
 13  7  292491 MOELGG Manfred  1982  ITA   55.97  56.10  1:52.07  9.51
 14  19  511127 GINI Marc  1984  SUI   55.92  56.17  1:52.09  9.62
 15  15  293098 RAZZOLI Giuliano  1984  ITA   55.24  56.87  1:52.11  9.73
 16  53  202462 DOPFER Fritz  1987  GER   55.39  56.94  1:52.33  10.95
 17  16  534562 LIGETY Ted  1984  USA   55.90  56.47  1:52.37  11.17
 18  3  501111 HARGIN Mattias  1985  SWE   55.48  57.11  1:52.59  12.38
 19  39  561148 SKUBE Matic  1988  SLO   56.11  56.49  1:52.60  12.44
 20  57  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas  1984  FRA   56.24  56.39  1:52.63  12.60
 20  50  193347 TISSOT Maxime  1986  FRA   56.00  56.63  1:52.63  12.60
 22  51  102456 BIGGS Patrick  1982  CAN   56.31  56.42  1:52.73  13.16
 23  54  51395 DIGRUBER Marc  1988  AUT   56.43  56.65  1:53.08  15.09
 24  20  301709 YUASA Naoki  1983  JPN   55.96  1:07.50  2:03.46  72.47
Disqualified 1st run
   59  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian  1987  NOR         
Did not start 1st run
   32  293006 INNERHOFER Christof  1984  ITA         
Did not qualify 1st run
   73  90134 YANAKIEV Zahari  1987  BUL         
   72  700868 FALAT Matej  1993  SVK         
   71  90109 TODOROV Dean  1983  BUL         
   69  90047 GEORGIEV Stefan  1977  BUL         
   68  92534 CHONGAROV Nikola  1989  BUL         
   66  561117 KUERNER Miha  1987  SLO         
   64  501458 LINDH Calle  1990  SWE         
   63  534959 JITLOFF Tim  1985  USA         
   62  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko  1986  CRO         
   61  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander  1984  RUS         
   60  191750 FANARA Thomas  1981  FRA         
   58  930105 GRANSTROM Colby  1990  USA         
   55  150644 KRYZL Krystof  1986  CZE         
   52  50931 BECHTER Patrick  1982  AUT         
   47  301312 SASAKI Akira  1981  JPN         
   45  50981 HOERL Wolfgang  1983  AUT         
   43  180251 PALANDER Kalle  1977  FIN         
   34  50547 SCHOENFELDER Rainer  1977  AUT         
   29  150594 TREJBAL Filip  1985  CZE         
   28  501116 LAHDENPERAE Anton  1985  SWE         
   27  102922 WHITE Trevor  1984  CAN         
   24  150398 BANK Ondrej  1980  CZE         
   23  102912 SPENCE Brad  1984  CAN         
   22  910000 IMBODEN Urs  1975  MDA         
   21  500656 LARSSON Markus  1979  SWE         
   18  560355 VALENCIC Mitja  1978  SLO         
Did not finish 2nd run
   33  534508 CHODOUNSKY David  1984  USA         
   30  511896 MURISIER Justin  1992  SUI         
   25  421400 MYHRE Lars Elton  1984  NOR         
   17  501223 BAECK Axel  1987  SWE         
   10  102239 COUSINEAU Julien  1981  CAN         
   6  501017 MYHRER Andre  1983  SWE         
Did not finish 1st run
   70  294904 PANGRAZZI Paolo  1988  ITA         
   67  90131 GEORGIEV Georgi  1987  BUL         
   65  53922 WIESER Manuel  1990  AUT         
   56  250127 BJORGVINSSON Bjorgvin  1980  ISL         
   48  194495 FAIVRE Mathieu  1992  FRA         
   46  102727 STUTZ Paul  1983  CAN         
   44  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis  1991  FRA         
   41  510997 BERTHOD Marc  1983  SUI         
   40  290732 THALER Patrick  1978  ITA         
   38  530165 BRANDENBURG Will  1987  USA         
   37  511908 SCHMIDIGER Reto  1992  SUI         
   36  92591 ALBRECHT Kilian  1973  BUL         
   35  50824 DREIER Christoph  1981  AUT         
   31  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil  1985  NOR         
   5  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica  1979  CRO