Crans Montana, Switzerland – Austrian Benni Raich sliced the soft snow in Crans Montana on Saturday for his 36th career Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win — his first since 2009 — but his first victory in super G.

Warm weather again hampered the race, causing the track to rut and bump up after the early starters. That didn’t faze the World Cup veteran Raich, who started Saturday’s race with bib number 16. France’s Adrian Theaux was second, while Swiss racer Didier Cuche, ending his career this season as the oldest man on the Alpine World Cup tour, continued his string of podium performances this winter by finishing third after winning Friday’s race.

Canada’s Jan Hudec came agonizingly close to a second podium in as many days when he finished fifth. The 30-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, who was second in Friday’s super G, put it all on the line with a hard-charging run but a couple of small mistakes saw him finish 24-hundredths of a second behind third place.

“I’m disappointed I missed the podium today. I really felt like I had a chance,” said Hudec, whose performance lifted him to third place in the World Cup super G rankings. “After losing time on the bottom yesterday I really wanted to make sure I was fighting the whole way down. I did that but I ended up making a few mistakes. I’m still satisfied with my approach and my skiing.”

Lake Placid, N.Y.’s Andrew Weibrecht finished the day in 20th. Ted Ligety, of Park City, Utah, produced another point scoring result with 22nd and young gun Ryan Cochran-Siegle, of Starksboro, Vt., was 26th for the second World Cup points of his career. Franconia, N.H.’sBode Miller once again did not start in favor of continued rest for a sore left knee.

“Weibrecht made a significant mistake and struggled to get his speed back. On the long delay across the traverse near the bottom, he came in way inside the lines,” explained U.S. Ski Team men’s head coach Sasha Rearick. “It looked like he was going to belly it out, but it didn’t work out. It was very simple, just a tactical error. It was tough because he has been working on not hooking up and being more aggressive at the top of the turn, but in that one situation he actually had to do the opposite.

“The light went away right around bib 28. Ted [Ligety] did a good job handling that situation and Ryan Cochran-Siegle did as well to score some points again. It was nice to see Ryan take yesterday and learn from it. He did a really good job with the conditions he had to work with,” Rearick concluded.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Crans Montana, Switzerland – Feb. 25, 2012
Men’s Super G