Men's Super G
Hermann Maier didn’t wait long to prove who’s the boss on the World Cup circuit. A day after his first defeat of the winter in the downhill won by his teammate Hannes Trinkl, The Herminator struck back in the second super G of the season, raced under a cloudy sky and with low visibility.

	Hermann Maier

He beat Swede Fredrik Nyberg by 95/100 of a second and his teammate Josef Strobl by 1/13. Stephan Eberharter, who placed 4th, must be getting used to finishing well. Since the first race in Tignes, the 30-year-old Tyrolian has reached the top-four in all his six races. As usual, many other Austrian skiers managed to enter the top-10 and America’s Daron Rahlves excellent, placing 8th.

But it looks like, for now, Maier is back on track. "I knew where and why I lost the downhill yesterday and my confidence was not affected at all by this defeat," said a smiling Hermann Maier after the race. "It was a hard one to win."

"It was a fast course and the visibility was not so good for most of the skiers. I have no problem with this — in fact I like it when you have to ski with much instinct...." — Hermann Maier (AUT)

He says the conditions, however, were perfect for him. "It was a fast course and the visibility was not so good for most of the skiers. I have no problem with this — in fact I like it when you have to ski with much instinct. I was lucky to get some sunshine in the upper part of the run. I gave my best, as usual. This is my fifth success since the season's start — why shouldn’t I be satisfied? There are still many races ahead and I feel in great shape."

In 1998, Maier won 10 World Cup events and two gold medals at Nagano — with more than twenty races left on his calendar, the skier from Flachau can hope to improve his own best mark. The record of victories in one season belongs to Sweden's here Ingemar Stenmark who won 13 races in 1979. In 1989, Switzerland's Vreni Schneider became the most successful woman skier with 14 victories.

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It's in the lower, easier part of this fast super G race that Maier dominated his rivals. At the second intermediate time, he had only built up a small lead of 16/100 on Nyberg, but he gained 79/100 on him in the last gliding section. Not a surprise since he is 65 pounds heavier than the slim Swede, who is mostly a giant slalom specialist.

So far, the 30-year-old Nyberg only skied once among the top-three in a super G, and that was in January of 1996. Throughout his long career, he has won five giant slalom races. With a total of 11 victories in super G since February 1997, Hermann Maier is now the leader in that event. In the history od World Cup, he is tied with Switzerland’s Pirmin Zurbriggen, one of the dominant skiers in the 1980s.

Daron Rahlves will head back to the States with great memories from Alberta. In two days, the skier from Truckee. California, reached a career best 15th place in downhill and a promising 7th place this super G. "First of all, it's great to feel healthy again after my problems with my shoulder in the past year," said the 26-year-old American. "Last summer I trained with the Austrians in New Zealand and I clocked some fast times in the shorter super G runs. I was very happy after the downhill and pretty confident before this race. It was a pretty tough run for everybody. It’s great to start the season with such good results. I will now travel to Europe with much momentum."

In his career, Rahlves has never entered the top-three in a World Cup race. His 4th place in Norway's Kvitfjell in 1995 is his best result on the World Cup tour and today marked his 9th top-10 finish in a World Cup competition.

The next races on the World Cup tour, a downhill and giant slalom, will be held in Val d’Isère, France, next week. Norway’s Lasse Kjus will join the circuit at that occasion.

— Manuèle Joyce, MountainZone.com Correspondent