L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Heel wins Super G in Val Gardena with Defago and Jaerbyn on the podium ... Paerson wins Super combined from Hosp and Suter ... Walchhofer retains King of the Hill in Downhill, Miller 2 and Osborne Paradis 3 ... Gut wins Super G in St Moritz from Suter and Fanchini

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Rocca rips up in Chamonix! Baxter boils out!

Giorgio Rocca is the hottest property on the Slalom circuit at the moment.  Having won last time out in Flachau, Rocca ripped into the water injected course on both runs to win by a very commanding 1.33seconds.  Rocca's first run was, in the words of Konrad Bartelski "one of the greatest slalom runs of all time, it was truly exceptional!"  On the first run course, that caught out many top names, including the indominatable Bode Miller, Rocca was in a class of his own.

Despite starting 1, Kalle Palander, who freely admits that he has never skied well at Chamonix, was glad to have got done.  As many racers skied out, including Thomas Grandi, Hans Petter Buraas and Miller, Palander was happy to have the opportunity of a second run.  Although down in 9th after the first run, the Finn, who has not been having the best of seasons, had a blistering second run to bring him back in to contention.  Palander managed to pull himself ahead of the best of the rest after the first run, Ivica Kostelic.  Kostelic's second run was not as strong as his first and he dropped to 5th.

The top three after the first run had been Raich, Kostelic and Rocca in the lead.  Young Canadian Patrick Biggs went first on the second run and set a pace that no one could match.  Biggs was still in the lead when Markus Larsson, in 14th after the first run came down.  Larsson had too much experience and skied technically sound to capture the lead.  The second run, six gates shorter, was much more open and not to everyone's liking.  The tightness of the first run had seen a high casualty rate yet the openness of the second allowed for fast attacking skiing.  Larsson managed to hold on to third, overtaken by Benni Raich, who looked very happy in the finish.  Raich, holder of the red bib as World Cup Leader was looking like he would extend his lead yet Rocca still had to come down.  Kostelic, still not back to his best, was unable to challenge the leadership. 

Supreme on the first, Rocca was a joy to watch on the second.  The others were safely in the finish yet for all his skill, a mistake on the second would mean it was all for nothing.  Rocca is in the form of his life and is widely been tipped as favourite for the Gold at the World Championships next month.  Quickest at both splits as well on the second run, Rocca just had too much in tank for the rest.

And yet the news does not finish there: The high casualty rate on the first run gave more lower ranked numbers a chance of making the second run.  With the 30th finisher not being registered until number 38, American Ted Ligerty, this all gave great hope for both Alain Baxter and Noel Baxter.  Alain took full advantage of this and from the moment he left the start gate on the first run, this was looking good.  The problem gate on the top half of the course that had been catching many out, was successfully dealt with and from then on Baxter motored on down to the bottom.  A clenched fist in the finish and 18th place after the first run gave Alain a smile and a second run.  For Noel, although "skiing well", did not make it down and like so many was caught out by the tight gate before the hairpins.  "I saw it was catching people out on the TV screen at the top, but the only way to ski these gates is to attack them and it still took me out," was how a deflated Noel saw it.  After finishing 3rd in a high quality FIS race in Austria last week, Noel knows that the form is returning, he just "wishes he could nail it on the World Cup as well!"

So a second run for Alain.  The first this season in the World Cup.  "After a positive first run," Baxter had hoped to make an impact on the second run.  "We have trained tight courses recently so this was a good result from the first run, it looks like I now need to train open courses as well!" reflected Alain.  Baxter knows that he is skiing fast: Christian Schwaiger: "We trained with the Germans coming into this race and Alain was faster than all of them (Neureuther and Vogl)."  "The second run felt great but Christian says it was looking too good!"  Baxter knew he had made too rounded turns leading into the verticale but was still upbeat.  "This first run is just what he needed coming into Wengen (2 slaloms), Kitzbuehel and Schladming said the watching Konrad Bartelski.

As Alain left the finish area to be mobbed by a large watching British contingent, he commented that he had let slip the opportunity of a first top ten finish this season.  This was by far an improvement on recent performances and although it will not lift him back into the elite top 30, it will restore some pride and more importantly confidence leading up to Bormio.

Results:

1    Giorgio Rocca (ITA)            45.15    43.00    1:28.15

2    Benni Raich (AUT)                46.39    43.09    1:29.48

3    Markus Larsson (SWE)          47.34    42.17    1:29.51

27    Alain Baxter (GBR)            47.69    43.39    1:31.08

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