A simple, straightforward goal carried Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg to victory in a World Cup giant slalom on Saturday.
Whereas most of his competitors had longer-term goals of winning a season discipline title or an overall title, Nyberg wanted to win a race, any race."I wanted to win again," Nyberg, 27, said. "It had been 21/2 years since I had won a race, at Aspen."
Last season, Nyberg finished fourth twice, fifth on three occasions and sixth twice.
"I wanted to go for it this year," he said. "If I went out once or twice, it didn't matter. I wanted to be on the podium."
Nyberg posted his fifth career World Cup win, overtaking first-run leader Urs Kaelin of Switzerland on a course that tested the skiers' stamina as well as their skills.
With the start of the Cimarron course situated at 11,580 feet and the finish at 10,367, it is the highest course World Cup racers have ever competed on.
"You really feel the altitude," Nyberg said. "And today when it was so cold, it hurt a lot to breathe. You get much more tired here."
Nyberg, who stood fifth after the first run and .45 seconds behind Kaelin, had the third-fastest second run to finish with a combined time of 2 minutes, 11.83 seconds.
Kaelin wound up second at 2:11.99, and Hans Knaus of Austria was third in 2:12.03 in unofficial results.
Another Austrian, Christian Mayer, was fourth in 2:12.17, and Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt took fifth in 2:12.54.
"I thought I had a very good first run," Nyberg said. "In the second run, I took a few more chances and went a little straighter through some parts.
"The snow was very hard, but not so hard you couldn't hold your ski. When it is icy like this, you must be more aggressive and put more pressure on your skis."
Michael Von Gruenigen of Switzerland, the defending giant-slalom champion, placed sixth in 2:12.58. Lasse Kjus of Norway, the defending overall champion, was seventh in 2:12.77.
Rounding out the top 10 were Patrick Holzer of Italy in 2:12.82, Steve Locher of Switzerland in 2:13.00 and Jure Kosir of Slovenia in 2:13.17.
Austrian Siegfried Voglreiter made the biggest move, posting the fastest second run of 1:06.09 to vault from 26th place to 11th.
No Americans qualified for the second run. Daron Rahlves of Truckee, Calif., appeared to be fast enough to qualify, but he hooked a tip just four gates from the finish and fell.
Matt Grosjean of Steamboat Springs, Colo., who finished 11th the last time Breckenridge held World Cup races in 1991, was clocked in 1:08.97 - more than a second too slow to earn a second run.
The reverse-30 rule was invoked for the second run, meaning Kaelin ran 30th. Earlier, officials had said the reverse-15 rule would be used.
Von Gruenigen maintained his lead in the overall standings with 194 points. Knaus is second with 190 and Aamodt third with 181.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Seizinger wins
LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (AP) - Germany's Katja Seizinger earned her fourth victory of the World Cup season Saturday, blazing to victory in a women's downhill.
Seizinger was timed in 1 minute, 41.91 seconds. France's Carole Montillet was second at 1:42.51, with Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg third at 1:42.64.
American Picabo Street finished fourth at 1:42.68.