WHISTLER, British Columbia — Austria’s Hannes Reichelt won his first World Cup giant slalom Saturday on the same course that will be the venue at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
The third-to-last skier of the day, Reichelt had to wait for Switzerland’s Didier Cuche and Austria’s Benjamin Raich, the leader after the first run, to take their turns before he could celebrate.
“It’s beautiful to wait if you win after the leader comes down,” said Reichelt, who covered the two runs in 2 minutes, 37.43 seconds for his third World Cup victory.
Cuche finished second in 2:37.82 and Raich was third in 2:37.87. American Ted Ligety was fourth in 2:37.95, and Bode Miller was seventh (2:38.64).
It’s been a good week for Reichelt as the 27-year-old was second in the super-giant slalom and already is looking forward to returning to Whistler for the Olympics.
“I know that slope is perfect for me,” he said. “I can be fast here and that gives me a lot of confidence. It’s good to know you can be fast on this slope in two years, but a lot can happen.”
Raich, the Olympic giant slalom champion, led after the first run with a time of 1:20.53. Cuche was second in 1:20.73, and Reichelt was third in 1:20.79.
Raich maintained his lead in the World Cup giant slalom standings with 308 points. Ligety is second with 285 points.
Miller retained his lead in the overall standings with 1,103 points. Raich is second with 1,058, and Cuche has 998.
