Bode Miller's backwoods New Hampshire entourage with its traveling motor homes is still out there on the 2007-08 Audi FIS Men's World Cup. He's doing it on his own terms.
The three-time U.S. Olympian ended his productive but often turbulent 10-year run with the U.S. Ski Team last May and went as brashly independent as his home state.
Miller, 30, assembled his own sponsors and support team in an effort to surpass Phil Mahre as the winningest American racer on the World Cup alpine ski tour. So far it's working for the 6-2, 210-pound renegade from Bretton Woods.
On Saturday, Carrabassett Valley Academy product Miller captured his 26th World Cup win. He conquered the long and gnarly 3-kilometer Stelvio run at Bormio, Italy in just over two minutes. Scorching the tough run, he led from the start and beat Austria's Andreas Buder by a full .45 seconds.
"I tend to do better on really tough courses. I focus more," said Miller, who won the downhill and super giant slalom gold medals at the 2005 FIS Alpine World Championships on the same Bormio course. "But I just tried to hold on at the end—I was out of gas."
Mahre's 27 World Cup wins include 11 combined triumphs, nine slaloms and seven giant slaloms. Miller's 26-win career shows nine GS wins plus five each in downhill, super giant slalom and slalom, and two more in combined.
Bode needs one more victory to tie Mahre and two to surpass the 50-year-old U.S. gate ace from Yakima, Wash. who was World Cup overall champion from 1981-83 and won the 1984 Olympic slalom gold medal.
With Saturday's result, Miller moved into third place in the current overall and downhill standings on the tour, just 118 points behind leader Benjamin Raich of Austria.
Meanwhile, the World Cup women staged giant slalom and slalom races Friday and Saturday at Lienz, Austria.
Two-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn, 23, of Vail, Colo. was the pre-Christmas overall leader after taking her ninth career World Cup victory Friday, Dec. 21 in the St. Anton, Austria downhill. But Vonn placed 25th in Saturday's slalom and fell out of the lead.
Defending World Cup overall queen Nicole Hosp, second in Saturday's slalom, moved atop the standings with 514 points. Vonn is second with 480. Julia Mancuso, 23, of Olympic Valley, Ca. placed second in Friday's giant slalom and moved into fourth overall.
Jackson Hole's Resi Stiegler was injured in the first run of Friday's women's GS at Lienz when she crashed through safety netting. No details about her condition were available from the U.S. Ski Team.
The men race Jan. 5-6 with a GS/SL at Adelboden, Switz as a prelude to the 78th Lauberhorn Weekend Jan. 11-13 at Wengen, Switz. The women's tour resumes Jan. 5-6 with another GS/SL weekend in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.
Current women's and men's leaders and top Americans:
Women's overall (15 events): 1—Nicole Hosp (Aust.) 514 points. 2—Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) 480 points. 4—Julia Mancuso 444.
Women's downhill: 1—Lindsey Vonn 330. 2—Britt Janyk (Can.) 224. 8—Julia Mancuso 121.
Women's slalom: 1—Nicole Hosp 305. 10—Resi Stiegler 111.
Women's giant slalom: 1—Denise Karbon (Italy) 300. 2—Julia Mancuso 186.
Women's super giant slalom: 1—Anja Paerson 136. 12—Julia Mancuso 50.
Women's super combined: 1—Lindsey Vonn 100. 3—Julia Mancuso 60.
Men's overall (15 events): 1—Benjamin Raich (Aust.) 524 points. 2—Didier Cuche (Switz.) 503. 3—Bode Miller (Team America) 406. 5—Ted Ligety (U.S.) 335.
Men's downhill: 1—Michael Walchhofer (Aust.) 230. 2—Didier Cuche 204. 3—Bode Miller 183.
Men's slalom: 1—Jean-Baptiste Grange (Fra.) 176. 15—Ted Ligety 60.
Men's giant slalom: 1—Ted Ligety 235. 2—Benjamin Raich 212. 12—Bode Miller 81.
Men's super giant slalom: 1—Didier Cuche (Switz.) 184. 11—Bode Miller 87.
Men's super combined: 1—Daniel Albrecht (Switz.) 100. 4—Bode Miller 50.
Saturday?s downhill winner Bode Miller, 30, of New Hampshire.
