06 JAN 2001 > Men's Giant Slalom
Third Win for von Gruenigen
Race Results

Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen once again has shown he is the man to beat after winning one of the most demanding men's giant slaloms of the last 10 years by an impressive margin of 1.62 seconds.

In the French resort of Les Arcs, the 31-year old veteran clinched his third giant slalom of the season, and the 19th of his career, making him the most successful GS skier on the tour.

Austria's Benjamin Raich was 2nd and Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein came in 3rd, 2.13 seconds behind the winner — quite an impressive margin. The two men took advantage of the tough weather and course conditions to reach their first podiums of the season, edging out Norway's Kjetil Aamodt.

"I was thinking about retiring at the end of last season - I'm glad I changed my mind...and my skis...."

Another Swiss veteran, 35-year-old Urs Kaelin, was 5th in front of Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg and Austrian superstar Hermann Maier, who only managed to finish in 7th position overall, despite being 3rd after the first run. He seemed reluctant to take the necessary risks on this treacherous course which saw many skiers crash, including Hermann's buddy, Andreas Schifferer, who tore a ligament in his right knee during a spectacular spill in the first run.

Since his disqualification at Val d'Isere, when he took too much time to inspect the slope, Maier hasn't seemed to make giant slalom a high priority and he seems more interested in the coming speed events.

Bode Miller was 20th, a good result for the US skier who started in 20th position in the morning after the course had been heavily damaged by previous skiers. Bode was also handicapped by bad visibility.

This race was held on wet snow and rough terrain and the organizers had to use chemicals to harden the course.

Americans Eric Schlopy and Daron Rahlves finished 11th and 21st, respectively. Thomas Vonn didn't finish the second run.

The difficult conditions definitely favored of von Gruenigen, a 10-year veteran of the World Cup tour. It rained last night and the slope was in bad shape early this morning.

"I think this was an advantage for me," he said from the finish. "Thanks to all my experience, I am probably better able to adapt than most other skiers. You must be mentally strong and accept these tough conditions. After all, alpine skiing is an outdoor sport. I guess many racers were also disturbed because there was no possibility to warm up before the race. But it was also no problem for me. I felt at ease from the first gate on and I gained confidence after each turn."

The last time von Gruenigen won a giant slalom by such a big margin was at Krajnska Gora, in January of 1997, when he won by 1.64 seconds over Austria's Sigi Voglreiter, who ironically has since become his race manager with Fischer Skis.

Since changing over from Rossignol to Fischer, von Gruenigen has regained his old form and momentum which had allowed him to dominate the specialty from 1996 to 1998 and to win three GS World Cup overalls from 1996 to 1999 and a total of four medals in 1996,'97 and '98.

"If I would have been told at the beginning of the season I would not have believed it," he said with a smile at the press conference following the race. " I never expected such a season. I was thinking about retiring at the end of last season - I'm glad I changed my mind... and my skis.

"It was also very interesting to discover the backstage of the sport and to test for several weeks all these skis before finding the best one for my style. I'm glad to have helped Fischer to come back to the top in the technical events too. I'm really proud of this, and happy they trust me."

So far "Mike" has accumulated a nice series of results since Soelden: 4th, 1st, 4th, 1st, 4th and again 1st. What's next? Fourth again at Adelboden next Tuesday and then 1st at the World Championships in St Anton in February? "Why not - I wouldn't mind," he said.

There were other happy faces on the winners' podium. Raich, the former "Mr. Wonderboy" of the Austrian team, has struggled in giant slalom this season and dropped out of many races. He desperately needed a strong result to have a chance to qualify for the coming World Championships. This 2nd place should re-launch his season.

And 3rd-placed Buechel, 2nd at the 1999 World Championships, reached his second World Cup podium of his career.

The top US skiers both lost too much time in the first run to have a chance at the podium. Yet the way Miller and Schlopy fought proves once more they do belong to the world's elite GS racers. Eric started for the first time from the first seed, wearing bib # 14.

In the slalom, the Austrians will try to come back and confirm their strong form. Mario Matt is the top-favorite for tomorrow's race.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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