Bode Miller posted the best super-G result of his comeback Friday, while Aksel Lund Svindal won his third race of the season and for the third time in Val Gardena, Italy.
Svindal, the reigning Olympic and World Cup super-G champion, consolidated his pre-race favorite status by winning in 1 minute, 35.82 seconds in the Dolomites. It marked the 100th World Cup win by a Norwegian man.
Canadian veteran Jan Hudec was second, .58 behind, for his first World Cup podium since Feb. 24, 2012. France’s Adrien Theaux was third in a race where many stars failed to finish, including world champion Ted Ligety, who was wide of a gate in the early portion of the course.
Ligety has one top 10 in six non-giant slalom races this season.
“This isn’t an ideal hill for me,” said Ligety, according to The Associated Press. “I could have hooked it sideways to stay on the course, but I would have been seven seconds out.”
Miller, 36, was the top American in eighth. Miller made more progress after missing all of last season following knee surgery and was in typical form, nearly having to stand up through the final gate to keep his balance.
“This course is just so easy, everyone is just pushing too hard,” Miller said, according to the U.S. Ski Team, as he did a post-race interview with his son sitting on his shoulders. “You’re seeing guys going too straight and blowing out of the course because they’re looking for speed where there isn’t any. That was a bit what I did, I just got away with it.”
He improved upon 23rd- and 14th-place finishes in his first two super-Gs of the season and recorded his first top 10 in the event since Dec. 16, 2011, also in Val Gardena.
The Alpine skiing World Cup continues with a downhill in Val Gardena on Saturday. Miller is expected to race but not Ligety. Svindal, who extended his World Cup overall lead Friday, appears to be the favorite.
Val Gardena Super-G
1. Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) 1:35.82
2. Jan Hudec (CAN) 1:36.40
3. Adrien Theaux (FRA) 1:36.73
4. Kjetil Jansrud (NOR) 1:36.84
5. Romed Baumann (AUT) 1:37.08
6. Erik Guay (CAN) 1:37.19
7. Georg Streitberger (AUT) 1:37.34
8. Bode Miller (USA) 1:37.37
9. Christof Innerhofer (ITA) 1:37.38
10. Joachim Puchner (AUT) 1:37.41
16. Travis Ganong (USA) 1:38.07
21. Andrew Weibrecht (USA) 1:38.33
28. Erik Fisher (USA) 1:38.91
41. Steven Nyman (USA) 1:39.61
43. Nick Daniels (USA) 1:39.69
50. Jared Goldberg (USA) 1:40.76
DNF. Ted Ligety (USA)
