The top favorites are tired. None of them reached the podium in the fifth GS race of the season, which was won by an unknown Austrian (a rare specimen nowadays). Christoph Gruber won this last World Cup race prior to Christmas after a spectacular second run. America's Erik Schlopy was 2nd and Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg, the leader in the first run, finished 3rd.

Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen, the winner at Val d'Isère last Sunday, was 4th, reinforcing his lead in the GS standings as his closest rivals finished way behind him. Even Hermann Maier, 3rd after the first leg, finished a far 10th.

"This success will influence the rest of my career."

An Austrian victory was no surprise. On the treacherous giant slalom course at Bormio, many people expected Maier to return to the podium after his banishment last Sunday. His teammate Heinz Schilchegger, the best technical skier in the first part of the season, was also hoping to win his first GS. Other Austrians: Christian Mayer, Benjamin Raich, Hans Knauss, Stephan Eberharter, Andreas Schifferer, Rainer Schoenfelder and Josef Strobl, all have the potential to dominate their rivals in any given race.

But at the end of the day, the last qualified Austrian, Christoph Gruber, was the winner.

The 24-year-old Tyrolian, 2nd earlier this month in a super G at Beaver Creek, only competed in one GS this season, at Soelden, where he skied out. He didn't make the GS team in Park City or Val d'Isère and only regained his spot after Toni Giger, the head coach of the Austrian men's team, decided to pull out veteran Rainer Salzgeber after his poor result at Val d'Isère.

Gruber, who trained hard last week in an Austrian resort where he was later joined by Maier, was lucky to receive a new pair of skis particularly efficient on icy snow. His determination propelled him among the top-10 in the first run, despite some fog in the middle of the course.

Having nothing to lose in the second run, the fog lifted and Gruber took all risks. He perfectly managed the challenges of the slope and jumped from 7th to 1st place. Nyberg was lucky to retain a place on the podium while Schlopy moved up from 4th to 2nd place.

But most leaders had no energy left to fight.

Hermann Maier, who seemed so confident after his first run, also looked tired. He lost almost two seconds on the fastest man in the afternoon, his teammate Andreas Schifferer, who progressed from 23rd to 6th place.

Gruber was the most surprised by his unexpected achievement. He was aiming for a top-15 place before the race and he had a hard time believing what happened.

"It's so tough to qualify within the Austrian team that I had no problem handling the pressure today - there are more than 20 skiers fighting the whole year for the ten spots on the World Cup tour," he explained. "I'm thankful to Toni Giger for his confidence. This success will influence the rest of my career. Now I can hope to race at the World Championships at St. Anton in front of my friends. It's fantastic."

Giger was, of course, also pleased. He will have a hard time selecting his team for the World Championships in St. Anton in a month. "We have so many good racers, we will have a hard time making a choice. Some of the skiers who will stay home have the potential to be World Champions. It's quite tough for them and us."

The second best GS team this season may well be USA's. With the second podium in a week, Erik Schlopy achieved the best American World Cup performance in a GS since the success of Phil Mahre at Furano, Japan, in March 1983. The American team will have much to celebrate over the holiday break.

Schlopy was 4th earlier this season at Park City and 9th at Val d'Isère. In January, he will start from the first seed, which was his main goal this season. With a little more luck, Schlopy could have clocked a faster time than Gruber, but he made two major mistakes and almost skied out. "It was close, but it could have been worse too," he said with a smile. "This a great day for me and the team. When a was a child I admired the Mahre brothers, and I was hoping to reach a podium in a World Cup race. Now I have done it - but it's not over yet."

No other US skiers scored points - Bode Miller skied out in the first run after clocking the fastest intermediate time. Bode often has problems in poor visibility.

Schlopy rents a home in Austria with teammate Bode Miller in order to have the feeling of a "home away from home" in Europe. He will enjoy the long holiday break. No races are scheduled for the men's tour until the beginning of January, when the skiers meet again at Les Arcs, France.

While men's tour has a break, the next women's race is scheduled for New Year's Eve in Semmering, Austria, near Vienna. Cold weather is expected there for the next few days.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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