ALPINE:

Grange wins, Cousineau 8th in strong Canadian slalom showing

Nov. 14, 2010     ♦ Photo: Julien Cousineau from last season (ACA)

LEVI, Finland — Jean-Baptiste Grange of France, the 2009 slalom World Cup champion who missed last season with a knee injury, won the season-opening men's World Cup slalom Sunday, while the Canadian team showed its depth by placing four racers in the top 25.

Grange won the first run and was too tough to beat in the second run, completing the day with a two-run time of 1 minute, 46.64 seconds. Andre Myhrer of Sweden was .33 back in second, followed by Croatia's Ivica Kostelic, .97 back, to round out the podium.

Julien Cousineau led a stellar Canadian effort, placing eighth. Brad Spence skied into 16th, Trevor White 19th and Patrick Biggs 22nd.

"Today was pretty much a perfect day for me," Grange said after his first World Cup slalom since November 2009. "In the second run I was able to remain focused and to go for it you know, just thinking about my skiing, just thinking of how I can find my best rhythm."

The Frenchman led after the first run and had the second-best time behind Myhrer in the second. Myhrer climbed from fourth to second, while Kostelic of Croatia was nearly a full second back in third.

Myhrer, who won bronze in the Vancouver Olympics, was pleased with his effort.

"I just thought I'd focus on what I have done during training and perform like I do during training and I think I succeeded with that," he said.

Cousineau got creative in the finish area by improvising his own signature move, firing his indexes like a gun, after he clocked in a two-run combined time of 1:48.56.

"I feel really good about this race,” said Cousineau. “I didn't really know what to expect because we hadn't skied with the other nations so far this year. I knew that I was skiing well in training and all I had to do was to ski well during the race. I'm happy because I started exactly where I left off last season, so it's a good start for me and it gives me a lot of confidence for the races to come.

"The snow conditions where good but not as hard as I would have liked it to be. I'm a better skier when the snow is not as grippy. It's another reason why I feel really good about my race today."

Cousineau finished 14th in the overall World Cup rankings last season, a career best for the Quebecer. He is looking to exceed those results with this new season.

"I want to be even more consistent this year and eliminate bad races. Obviously, I'm looking for a victory but I'm just going to take it a race at a time and aim for a top 15 at each race," added Cousineau.

"If everything comes together like it should be, victory should happen, but it's not my main focus."

Spence finished in 16th place with a combined time of 1:49.57. This is Spence's first time completing two runs in Levi. White, who was 30th after his first run, finished in 19th place by clocking in a time of 1:49.95. Biggs finished in 22nd with a time of 1:50.05.

In the first run, Bode Miller of the United States was among several racers who skied out on a difficult section just before the steep part of the hill. Defending World Cup slalom champion Reinfried Herbst, Benjamin Raich of Austria and Italian Olympic gold medalist Giuliano Razzoli went out in the same section. Canadians Michael Janyk and Ryan Semple also failed to finish the opening run.

"Actually the course is not very difficult, but there are two rolls with some hairpins on it and they are not very easy," said Grange after the first run. "I went through this without any problems, but I can see that many guys had some problems with that."

Grange won the Levi race in 2008.

The best American skier was Ted Ligety, who finished 18th, moving up from 26th in the first run. "I had a pretty mistake-filled run and it was really bumpy already," Ligety said after the first run. "It's not that easy up there."

Levi, some 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle, is the world's northernmost World Cup venue. The small ski resort is hosting World Cup slaloms for the fifth time since 2006.

Some members of Canada's alpine ski team were turning heads in Levi related to a certain fashion statement being made. Several members of the men's team are sporting thick moustaches, supporting a worldwide campaign known as "Movember" that raises awareness for prostate cancer research each year through the month of November. White said they hope to raise $5000 by the end of the month.

The start of the speed season will take place at the Bombardier presents Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup on Nov. 27-28 with the men's downhill and super-G races and Dec. 3-5 with the women's races.

— Alpine Canada and The Canadian Press contributed to this report

S-Magazine

Levi World Cup men's slalom results