BEAVER CREEK, Colorado: Italy’s Matteo Marsaglia notched his first alpine World Cup victory on Saturday, winning the Beaver Creek super-G ahead of Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal.
Germany’s Hannes Reichelt was third.
Marsaglia, 27, clocked 1min 14.68sec. Svindal, who was second in the downhill on Friday to remain atop the overall World Cup standings, was 27-hundredths of a second back.
“This can help me a lot,” Marsaglia said. “I knew I could have a good year, I knew I was in really good shape, but if you don’t do it...”
He said he was rewarded for his aggressive approach.
“I took a lot of risks,” he said. “You need to do this, and when you take a lot of risks you need to be a little bit lucky. This was my day.”
Reichelt, winner of the super-G at Beaver Creek in 2007, set the early pace from the eighth starting position but finished the day 70-hundredths off the lead.
The course with tight turns offered little margin for error. Austrian Max Franz hit a gate and fell hard. He took a knock to the head and was taken to hospital for observation.
Austrian head coach Mathis Berthold said Franz lost consciousness for a couple of seconds and had a mild concussion. He also complained of discomfort in his shoulder and knee, but those did not appear to be serious injuries.
Germany’s Stephan Keppler also failed to finish and ended his day with an impressive black eye.
Svindal said mistakes by more experienced skiers opened the door for Marsaglia.
“Me, Kjetil (Jansrud) and Christof Innerhofer we all made mistakes so Matteo Marsaglia took his opportunity to win the race.
“I am fine losing to a young guy who is ready to go all-out than to somebody of my generation,” Svindal said. “I was really skiing well until I made this mistake but I’m not complaining: two podium placings within two days, I’ll take it.”
Even though he left Lake Louise with back-to-back victories to his credit, Svindal said he was a bit surprised by his two runner-up finishes here, with a giant slalom remaining on Sunday.
“When I came here I felt really good and I was looking forward to skiing well, but these two podiums were a little bit more than I expected,” he said.
Marsaglia’s triumph continued a strong week for Italy. His compatriot Innerhofer won the downhill on Friday.
Reichelt was delighted to rebound from his disappointing showing in Lake Louise last weekend.
“After Lake Louise I was crushed, my confidence was so low, my skiing wasn’t good and I really didn’t know if I was going to find a solution,” he said.
“Coming back to a race that you have already won always helps. This feels so good to be on the podium.”
Marsaglia claims men’s World Cup super-G
Marsaglia claims men’s World Cup super-G
Rabiot double lifts Milan after early scare at Como
- Milan are second in the standings on 43 points, three behind rivals Inter Milan and three clear of Napoli in third, while Como are sixth with 34 points
COMO, Italy: AC Milan came from behind to earn a 3-1 victory at Como on Thursday, with Adrien Rabiot scoring twice to keep the away side in the Serie A title race.
Milan are second in the standings on 43 points, three behind rivals Inter Milan and three clear of Napoli in third, while Como are sixth with 34 points.
Como made the brighter start and took the lead after 10 minutes when Marc-Oliver Kempf rose to head home a corner.
Despite the hosts controlling much of the first half, Milan struck in stoppage time as Christopher Nkunku calmly converted from the penalty spot after Kempf was penalized for pushing Rabiot.
Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan produced a series of strong saves to keep Como at bay after the break before Milan took the lead in the 55th minute when Rabiot knocked the ball in from close range.
Como were denied an equalizer as Nico Paz saw his effort from outside the box crash against the crossbar. Milan then sealed the win two minutes from time when Rabiot caught the Como defense off guard with a low strike from distance that crept into the bottom corner.
“This was a team victory, we showed our mentality,” Rabiot told DAZN after being named Man of the Match.
“We suffered a lot in the first half, but we talked during the break, came out with a different mentality, we all came out fighting for the three points.
“We gave something extra and I am very happy to score two goals, obviously, but above all I’m pleased with the mentality of the team.”
While Rabiot provided the goals, another Frenchman, goalkeeper Maignan, made his mark with a string of crucial saves.
“We knew that playing here would be difficult, we were well-prepared. We started a little sluggish and they scored, but we managed to keep the game open, and then all together started to play as a team,” Maignan said.
“We know these are great nights for Milan with an atmosphere like this. We suffered, we used up a lot of energy and left it all on the field.”
