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Bode struggles in return to World Cup

American misses gate on second run; Austria's Herbst wins slalom opener

Bode Miller of USA clears a pole duringAFP/Getty Images
In his first World Cup race in eight months, Bode Miller finished 30th in his first run at Levi and could never recover.

LEVI, Finland - Reinfried Herbst of Austria won the men's World Cup slalom opener on Sunday, beating Ivica Kostelic of Croatia by 0.28 seconds.

Herbst had a two-run total of 1:49.79 down Levi's Black course. It was the 31-year-old Herbst's sixth career World Cup victory, all in slaloms.

Jean-Baptiste Grange of France, last year's winner in Levi, finished third, 0.53 behind.

"In the first run I skied well, I had everything under control and made no big mistakes," Herbst said. "In the second run I was very fast on the flat parts. It was important to push from the first until the last gate.

"I had a great feeling and went 100 percent. It was the first time I got a good result in the first race of the season."

Most of the skiers had trouble with the top of the steep section of the course in the second run, with competitors being kicked out of line and ending up below the level of the next gate.

"I guess everyone had some kind of trouble there," Kostelic said. "I was speaking to my sister later and she told me that actually there was a rut and she said that everyone was hitting this rut."

Kostelic was pleased with his performance.

"I'm very happy, especially so early in the season to be among the best," he said. "It's a surprise. I thought I could be top five maybe, but I did not expect a podium. I skied quite good in the steep part of the first run and that made me think that maybe I can go for the top.

"I just need to take care of my back. Everything else is fine. I'm looking forward to the speed events in Canada."

Kostelic leads the overall standings with 102 points, two ahead of Herbst and speed specialist Didier Cuche of Switzerland after two races.

First-run leader Andre Myhrer of Sweden made several mistakes in the second round and dropped to 11th, 1.41 behind.

Bode Miller only just qualified for the second run, finishing 30th in the opening run to take the last slot. The American, a former two-time overall champion, got hit in the face by a gate early in the second and did not finish his run.

"Bode was trying a lot of things in the first run, but he was still able to get a second run and then was skiing really well on the top before he got hit in the face with a gate," said U.S. technical head coach Rudi Soulard.

"His nose was bleeding pretty bad and he has a fat lip, but he's OK. His skiing is not where he needs to be yet, but he's doing all the right things to get there."

This was Miller's first race after nearly eight months off. He had been working out for only a month before the opener.

A year ago, Miller finished second in the slalom opener in Levi. That was his best result of the season and his first slalom podium since December 2004. During the season he failed to win a race for the first time in nearly 10 years.

He cut last season short and skipped the World Cup Finals in Sweden after failing to medal at the world championships — the third straight major championship where he failed to make the podium.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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