Austrians hit form in Val d’Isère

14th December 2009, by Chris Gill

Hirscher gets an edge

With impressive performances from the young Marcel Hirscher and Olympic gold winner Benni Raich, the Austrian team dominated the men’s racing this weekend in Val d’Isère.

Sunday’s GS was Hirscher’s first World Cup victory, and followed wins by Raich and Michael Walchhofer in the super-combined and super-G races on Friday and Saturday, completing an Austrian hat-trick.

In contrast, Raich, one of the most consistent World Cup racers in recent years, posted his 35th World Cup win. He has now edged into the lead in the overall World Cup standings, ahead of Swiss phenomenon Carlo Janka. Janka, GS world champion, recorded three wins in Beaver Creek a week back; had he made it four in a row, he would have been the first skier to do so for over a decade.

• world cup
• val disere
• beaver creek
• raich
• walchhofer

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