World Cup Skiing : Alpiger Wins Aspen Downhill; Girardelli Takes Season Title

ASPEN, Colo. —  Switzerland’s Karl Alpiger, coming off a nearly perfect training run the day before, raced to his fifth career World Cup downhill victory Friday, while Marc Girardelli won the discipline title.

Alpiger, 27, a six-year veteran of the World Cup circuit, edged Girardelli by one-tenth of a second in the first event after the World Alpine Ski Championships.

Alpiger, who had previously finished second and third in the Aspen downhill, was timed in 1 minute 44.02 seconds.

Girardelli, of Luxembourg, was clocked in 1:44.12 and, in the process, clinched the season’s downhill title. With one downhill remaining, Girardelli has a 34-point lead over runner-up Helmut Hoeflehner of Austria.

Another Swiss skier, Daniel Mahrer, was third Friday in 1:44.40. Two Swiss favorites, Peter Mueller and Pirmin Zurbriggen, finished well off the pace in 10th and 15th place, respectively.

Girardelli, 25, also increased his lead over Zurbriggen in the overall standings. Gaining 20 points with his runner-up finish while Zurbriggen could add only one point, Girardelli has 326 points to Zurbriggen’s 232.

Zurbriggen, unhappy with his run, said, “This makes winning the overall title a lot harder--not impossible but nearly so.”

The top American was Bill Hudson of Olympic Valley, Calif., who was 38th in 1:47.18.