The Austrian's are a force to be reckoned with at the super-combined in Les Houches
It was Austria’s day on Friday as their team took 3 of the top four positions the super-combined (downhill and slalom) race in Les Houches, Chamonix. Benjamin Raich increased his lead in the overall World Cup standings when he won with a combined time of two minutes 36.48 seconds. Compatriot Rainer Schoenfelder took second place 0.83 seconds behind, with American Bode Miller who was returning to action after missing the Garmisch-Partenkirchen races, in third place, a week before the start of the Turin Winter Olympics. Another Austrian, Michael Walchhofer, Raich's main rival in the World Cup overall race, finished in fourth place after a solid slalom.
The 27-year-old Raich has 1,065 points and leads speed specialist Walchhofer by 245 points with nine World Cup races remaining this season, six of them technical events. "It's good that I have taken these 100 points now because they will not be lost and you never now what can happen later in the season," Raich said. The Aerzl im Pitzal-born skier added he was confident ahead of Saturday's downhill.
Norwegian veteran Kjetil Andre Aamodt had set the pace in the morning's downhill but the combined Olympic champion failed to capitalise in the slalom and finished eighth.
Swiss Bruno Kernen and Austrian Hermann Maier, who were second and third respectively after the downhill, pulled out of the slalom run. Hermann Maier, who had hoped for a good display ahead of the Winter Olympics, withdrew from the race in protest over the format. He argued that the downhill had been shortened too much and the slalom leg was too long, favouring the technical skiers. Maier said he wanted to focus on Saturday's downhill while Kernen had to undergo medical checks after hurting his knee in the morning's downhill.
Results:
1. Benjamin Raich (Aut) 1:42.84 - 53.64 - 2:36.48
2. Rainer Schoenfelder (Aut) 1:43.02 - 54.29 - 2:37.31
3. Bode Miller (USA) 1:42.78 - 54.69 - 2:37.47
4. Michael Walchhofer (Aut) 1:42.64 - 54.96 - 2:37.60
5. Didier Defago (Swi) 1:43.02 - 54.58 - 2:37.60
6. Andrej Sporn (Slo) 1:43.96 - 53.68 - 2:37.64
7. Pierrick Bourgeat (Fra) 1:44.03 - 53.75 - 2:37.78
8. Kjetil Andre Aamodt (Nor) 1:41.72 - 56.10 - 2:37.82
9. Silvan Zurbriggen (Swi) 1:43.59 - 54.39 - 2:37.98
10. Ted Ligety (USA) 1:44.51 - 53.60 - 2:38.11
