ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP 1997/98
Saalbach/Hinterglemm (AUT) Men's 6th Giant Slalom. 06.Jan.1998
Hermann Maier Back on Top

Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, January 6--Austria's Hermann Maier celebrated his greatest victory today when he won the sixth giant slalom race of the season held in front of thousands of elated spectators.
The Overall World Cup leader, who lives only 90 minutes from Saalbach-Hinterglemm, beat by 2.44 seconds his closest rival, the former dominator of giant slalom, Italian superstar Alberto Tomba. Tomba, the three-time Olympic Champion, was only 8th after the first run.

Tomba took first place on a World Cup podium this winter only two days after his dispute with a FIS Official in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia during the inspection of the second run. Rainer Salzgeber, a silver medallist at the Ski World Championships in 1993 in Morioka, Japan, may have retained a chance for an Olympic qualification by finishing 3rd in front of Austrian teammate Hans Knauss. Two more Austrians as well as three Swiss skiers finished in the top-10.
Switzerland's Michael von Grunigen could not crack the top-30 in the morning after losing time in the upper flat part of the course because of strong gusts of wind. As a result, he lost his lead in the giant slalom World Cup standings after this race. Maier is now leading the giant slalom competition with 400 points, 60 points ahead of Swiss World Champion, von Grunigen. Maier also hopes to regain the 100 points taken away in December at Val d'Isere, where he was disqualified for taking off his skis too close to the finish line.
Christian Mayer, the winner at Alta Badia and Kranjska Gora, was also a noted victim of the difficult course and weather conditions. Although he skied out in the second run, Mayer is still 3rd in the giant slalom standings with 299 points. In 13th position, Canada's Thomas Grandi had the best finish of the North American skiers. US team members Bode Miller and Casey Puckett didn't qualify for the second run.
It was an emotional moment when Hermann Maier and Alberto Tomba congratulated each other on the winners podium after the race. These two athletes are by far the most charismatic personalities on the World Cup tour this winter. In fact, "La Bomba " explained afterwards at the press conference that his Austrian competitor sometimes shows similar attitudes that he had himself in his younger years.
"I like the way he races and behaves," said Tomba. "He is an incredible athlete with a very strong mind who likes to follow his own way. He will be difficult to beat in Nagano because he is incredibly confident and aggressive. He deserves to win the Overall World Cup."
Maier was pleased to hear Tomba speaking so positively about him. "He is such a great hero and I was really proud to be next to him on the podium, especially one step higher," he said with a laugh. "It's difficult to be compared to him--he has achieved so many great performances. I told him that I believe that he will be tough to beat at the Olympics."
Maier will recall for a long time this dramatic day which brought him his fourth win of the season after two spectacular runs. As most of the other favorites, he had to face bad visibility and strong gusts of wind in the morning when he cruised on the course after a 15 minute hold. Despite a crash in the middle of the run, he nonetheless clocked the best time. He finished 62/100 ahead of Salzgeber and 81/100 ahead of Switzerland's Urs Kaelin. Other top competitors lost a great deal of time due to even more serious problems, including Stefan Eberharter, who finished 19th, and von Grunigen, who finished only 33rd, trailing the leaders by almost three seconds.

The reigning GS World Cup champion had to push on his poles to accelerate on the flat section because of the wind. He was rather upset after his race because with only three more giant slalom races on the schedule until the finals in March his chances to retain his title are slimmer.
Light snow fell on the slope during the second run but it was not enough to discourage Tomba who charged as in his best days. The 31-year-old skier from Bologna fought hard, especially in the lower, more difficult part. His final time was good enough to allow him to move up quickly in the standings from 19th. None of the six skiers who started behind him could pass him. Even Salzgeber's time was slower by 25/100 allowing Alberto to celebrate his first place on a World Cup podium in a long time.
Improving on his substantial lead, Maier also challenged himself on the course to secure first place with the best time in the second run as well, 90/100 faster than Tomba. "I wanted to win this race in front of all my fans who supported me so well today," Maier said. "It was really a great feeling and it was worth taking so many risks. It was nice to rest on Sunday while the others were racing slalom. I ran a little and rode my bike. I only trained here a little on Monday. I felt really fresh today which wasn't the case in Slovenia. Now I will also have some relaxed days before the two Super-G races in Schladming which I will also try to win. Last summer, I was very strong in that specialty in the various tests, and I wish to make another good show over the weekend. If things go well there, I may take a break the next week to prepare well for the great races in Kitzbuhel where I plan to take part in the slalom to score some points in the combined."
Due to his perfect form, Maier will again be the skier to beat on the treacherous and famous Hahnenkamm course. A victory in this race is a dream for every Austrian skier. Maier will not compete at the night slalom in Schladming on Thursday to continue his battle with Tomba. After today's race the Italian skier will move with great confidence on the demanding slalom hill on which he won his only event last season.
"It's a tough hill which requires excellent skiing," Tomba said. "That's good for me since I really feel well. Very few people believed that I could come back in giant slalom the way I did, and I'm very happy to prove to them that they were wrong. I have worked hard to come back, and it's good to know that I should be able to start in the first seed in Japan after this race. On Sunday, I showed that I'm also skiing well in slalom in clocking the 2nd best time in the first run."

Tomba is always dangerous when he is fighting back as he is now after the controversy in Kranjska Gora. He charges himself with strong emotion and determination after such types of incidents. Two years ago, he also won two events in December after having thrown a crystal globe to a photographer after a race and after another dispute with FIS representative Gunther Hujara at Kranjska Gora.
"Maybe I need this to get really motivated," said Tomba with a smile. "I'm older now, and it's difficult to fight against these young guys. Anyway, it was really nice to excel here in this place which hasn't brought me great luck in the past. In 1988, I lost the Overall World Cup to Pirmin Zurbriggen here in the last races and at the World Championships in 1991, I skied out in the second run in the giant slalom after having set the best time in the morning because I straddled a gate with an arm. In slalom, I was 2nd in the first run but only 4th at the end! Now I feel much better about this place."
Men's 6th Giant Slalom, 06.01.1998
Rank Name Nat. Total
 1 MAIER Hermann  AUT   2:37.96
 2 TOMBA Alberto  ITA   2:40.40
 3 SALZGEBER Rainer  AUT   2:40.65
 4 KNAUSS Hans  AUT   2:40.89
 5 LOCHER Steve  SUI   2:40.98
 6 PLASCHY Didier  SUI   2:41.12
 7 SCHIFFERER Andreas  AUT   2:41.52
 8 KAELIN Urs  SUI   2:41.86
 9 BUECHEL Marco  LIE   2:41.89
 10 EBERHARTER Stephan  AUT   2:42.23
 11 KOSIR Jure  SLO   2:42.25
 12 MADER Guenther  AUT   2:42.35
 13 GRANDI Thomas  CAN   2:42.73
 14 BERGAMELLI Sergio  ITA   2:42.81
 15 UOTILA Sami  FIN   2:42.84
 16 HOLZER Patrick  ITA   2:42.90
 17 STRAND NILSEN Harald Chr.  NOR   2:43.00
 18 ERTL Andreas  GER   2:43.16
 19 NYBERG Fredrik  SWE   2:43.34
 20 BERGAMELLI Thomas  ITA   2:43.70
 21 KOBLAR Jernej  SLO   2:43.78
 22 BARNERSSOI Tobias  GER   2:43.86
 23 THALER Patrick  ITA   2:44.44
 24 ACCOLA Paul  SUI   2:44.61
 25 VOGL Alois  GER   2:44.91
 26 LOEDLER Thomas  CRO   2:44.99
 27 MANUEL Patrice  FRA   2:45.09
 28 DEFAGO Didier  SUI   2:45.15
 29 KUNC Mitja  SLO   2:45.17

Did not start 1st run:
MAXA Marcel (CZE), BURAAS Hans-Petter (NOR)

Did not finish 1st run:
GOMEZ Victor (AND), VOGLREITER Siegfried (AUT), WIRTH Patrick (AUT), GUIGNIER Gregory (FRA), BERGAMELLI Giancarlo (ITA), RIEDER Arnold (ITA), SAETER Aane (NOR), KJUS Lasse (NOR), JAERBYN Patrik (SWE), KERNEN Bruno Ii (SUI), KNAUSS Bernhard (SLO)

Did not finish 2nd run:
MAYER Christian (AUT)

Disqualified 1st run:
EBERLE Markus (GER)

Did not qualify 2nd run:
SCHILCHEGGER Heinz (AUT), AMIEZ Sebastien (FRA), COVILI Frederic (FRA), PICCARD Ian (FRA), SAIONI Christophe (FRA), CHENAL Joel (FRA), MILLET Vincent (FRA), PICCARD Jeff (FRA), STANKALLA Stefan (GER), BORMOLINI Ivan (ITA), NANA Matteo (ITA), KOENIGSRAINER Gerhard (ITA), KAWAGUCHI Joji (JPN), URAKI Kenta (JPN), VOGT Achim (LIE), MAN DE Harald II (NED), STIANSEN Tom (NOR), AAMODT Kjetil Andre (NOR), EXARTIER Stephane (POL), BRUGGE Jesper (SWE), VON GRUENIGEN Michael (SUI), PUCKETT P Casey (USA), MILLER Bode (USA), GRUBELNIK Drago (SLO), VAITKUS Linas (LTU)