BEAVER CREEK, Colorado, 7 December 2004 — Austrian Benjamin Raich finally reached the top step of the podium in his fourth race at Beaver Creek yesterday, winning the opening slalom of the men’s World Cup season.
Raich finished ahead of Italian Giorgio Rocca and Austrian Rainer Schoenfelder, while American Bode Miller was, for the second day in a row, made just a brief appearance before skiing over a gate in the first let.
Miller, whose sizzling start to the season saw him win four of the first five races and finish on the podium in the other, still retained a comfortable lead in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, Raich was delighted to find himself in the winner’s circle.
“It’s a great result, and it gives me confidence for the rest of the season,” Raich said after claiming the 14th victory of his World Cup career, and his ninth in the slalom, a discipline where he excelled long before his evolution into an all-arounder willing to tackle the speed events.
“I had two almost perfect runs,” added Raich, who finished with a two-run total time of 1min 51.06sec.
“I skied just the way I wanted to ski. My goal was to be first, so this is a great day for me.”
Schoenfelder professed himself satisfied with a podium finish, even though he couldn’t translate his first-leg lead into a win.
“I did my best but it wasn’t enough,” said Schoenfelder, who had led by 11-hundredths of a second after a first-run made more difficult by falling snow and changing visibility.
Miller was among 21 skiers who failed to finish the opening run.
Miller, who is attempting to become the first American to claim the overall title since Phil Mahre in 1983, didn’t lose any ground to his chief rival Hermann Maier, who does not race slalom and remained steady on 274 points. Raich is third with 263.
“The chase for Miller is on, but I have to pay attention to what I have to do and concentrate on the technical disciplines,” Raich said.
The men’s circuit now heads to Europe, where the next scheduled races are a downhill and a giant slalom at Val d’Isere on December 11 and 12 a slalom at Sestriere.
