KVITFJELL, Norway, 9 March 2004 — American Daron Rahlves won a super-G World Cup race on Sunday on a course where he broke his hand last year as Hermann Maier tightened his grip on the overall title.
“I had a score to settle with the hill today,” Rahlves, 30, said of his crash at the end of last season on the Kvitfjell course in south Norway. “There’s no better way than winning.”
Winning the penultimate super-G of the season, Rahlves skied Norway’s 2.7-km course built for the 1994 Olympics in one minute 34.00 seconds, 0.15 seconds ahead of Norway’s Bjarne Solbakken and 0.17 ahead of Maier.
Maier, who has already secured the season’s super-G title, led eight Austrians in the top 10 and stretched his lead in the race for his fourth overall crystal trophy to 67 points over American Bode Miller with just four races left.
“I’m in the lead so I’m the favorite,” Maier shrugged when asked about the four-way showdown at the World Cup finals at Sestriere, Italy, starting on Wednesday. “It’s too small an advantage...it’s getting very, very hard.”
After making a stunning comeback from a motorcycle accident in 2001, Maier has 1,165 points overall with Miller on 1,098 trailed by Austrians Stephan Eberharter on 1,083 and Benjamin Raich on 1,063.
Defending overall champion Eberharter, 34, finished 12th on Sunday a day after winning the downhill title at Kvitfjell with victory in the penultimate race of the season.
In the downhill standings, Rahlves is third after Maier and second in the super-G, also behind Maier.
“I’m finishing off the season strong,” Rahlves said. “I’d hoped to win the two speed cups this year (downhill and super-G) but I didn’t make it. Next year I aim to come back as number one.”
Rahlves, a former super-G world champion, said Kvitfjell was one of his favorite courses — apart from last year’s accident. He won his first World Cup race here, a downhill in 2000.
Miller, trying to become the first American to win the overall title since Phil Mahre in 1983, said he was disappointed with his 22nd place on Sunday. A better performer in technical events, he had been leading the overall standings before the weekend.
Raich, who equaled the best super-G result of his career with fourth place, rated Maier favorite for the overall title.
But the ex-bricklayer does not normally ski the slalom, where Miller and Raich are experts. Asked whether he would take part in the Sestriere slalom next Sunday, Maier remarked: “Hopefully not.”
