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Near flawless run earns Grange win

Jean-Baptiste Grange negotiates a jump during the downhill event on his way to victory in the Men's FIS Alpine World Cup super combined on Friday in Wengen, Switzerland. PHOTO: AFP

Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange produced a near flawless slalom performance to grab victory in the World Cup super-combined event in Wengen, Switzerland, on Friday.

Switzerland's Daniel Albrecht finished second with American Bode Miller, the big favorite for today's downhill, placing third.

Grange clocked a time of 2 minutes 20.61 seconds for the two-discipline event, holding off a disappointed Albrecht by just 0.06 seconds and Miller by 0.51 to claim his second win of the season in the series.

The Frenchman's achievement was all the more impressive as he had only managed to finish 27th in the downhill.

Grange, a slalom specialist who won bronze at last year's world championships in Sweden, admitted his relatively poor downhill run -- compared to the specialists' efforts -- had in fact given him the edge for the slalom.

"I was lucky I was one of the first out the gate and went on to have a great [slalom] run," said Grange, who won the slalom at Alta Badia in Italy last month.

"Until now my downhill hasn't been up to scratch but I went out there today determined to finish among the top 30. And I didn't make too many mistakes," he said.

"Then I knew I could make up the lost time in the slalom, and reach the podium," Grange said.

Another winner on the day was Austrian Benni Raich, who finished fourth, at 0.55 behind Grange, to stretch his lead in the World Cup overall standings.

He now leads Albrecht by 164 points, with fellow Swiss racer Didier Cuche in third a point further adrift. Cuche, as planned, did not contend the slalom instead using the downhill section as training for today's race.

Grange now shares the lead of the World Cup super-combined standings with Albrecht, both men on 180 points.

Albrecht was disappointed that he had decided to limit his risk-taking in the downhill section after hearing the crowd react to one of Miller's maverick moves.

"I knew Bode had come into difficulty at the Chemin section when I heard the crowd, so since I was out after him I decided not to take too many unnecessary risks," Albrecht said.
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