Kalle Palander records third World Cup giant slalom win at Alta Badia

Marcus Sandell also in the points again

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If Kalle Palander could have his way, FIS World Cup giant slalom events would always be raced down the steep slope at Alta Badia in Italy.
      On Sunday he recorded his fourth giant slalom World Cup victory, and three of them have come at Alta Badia - in 2003 (his maiden victory in giant slalom), 2006, and now this year. Only the great Alberto Tomba (with four wins) has enjoyed more success on this track.
      The Finn has also been second and fifth on the Alta Badia course, so it is not unnaturally among his favourites.
     
Sunday’s victory did not come easy, however, as Palander nearly crashed out on his second run after a great first descent had given him a slim lead over Benjamin Raich of Austria.
      Despite making at least two big mistakes on his second run, Palander did enough to secure the 11th fastest time, and with Raich also running into problems and finishing only 15th-fastest, the Finn eventually edged out the Austrian, who currently leads the overall World Cup standings, by 0.42 seconds to win in 2:30.92.
      Switzerland’s Marc Berthod made up enough ground on his second run - where he was fourth-fastest - to haul himself up from fifth and snatched the thrird podium place.
     
Palander has now won fourteen World Cup events in a career that has seen plenty of ups and downs since he burst onto the scene with an out-of-nowhere victory in the slalom at the 1999 World Championships in Vail.
      He made a remarkable comeback from 2003 after years in the doldrums, and went on to win the slalom World Cup title in 2002-2003. He followed that by being runner-up in 2003-2004, and in 2005-2006, and branched out into the giant slalom after that first win in Alta Badia, grabbing the runner-up spot in the giant slalom World Cup for the 2003-2004 season.
     
Palander has also fought back from serious injury, and his win in Alta Badia in 2006 - until Sunday his most recent World Cup triumph - was a personal milestone as it marked a return to the top after major knee surgery.
      On the other hand, with the exception of that triumph in 1999, the 30-year-old Palander has not managed to channel his skills into Olympic or World Championships success, with his best showing being 4th in the giant slalom in Bormio in 2005.
     
Three other Finns took part in the Alta Badia competition, but only the up and coming 20-year-old Marcus Sandell managed to get among the points.
      He improved from 19th on his first run to take 14th place. This was Sandell's fourth World Cup giant slalom start of the season and the fourth time he has finished in the top 30.
      Since Sandell is now "ahead" of Kalle Palander's achievements at the same age, he joked on Sunday that his next move was to win the World Championships, which Palander managed at 21.
      Jukka Leino finished 37th on the first run and was eliminated, and Tuukka Kaukoniemi skied out.
      Today Palander, Sandell, and Leino will all start in a slalom event at Alta Badia. Palander was 5th here last year.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Kalle Palander roars back with giant slalom victory at Alta Badia (18.12.2006)

Links:
  FIS: Marcus Sandell
  FIS pages - Alta Badia 16.12.2007
  Kalle Palander profile

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