truebluefan

CHAMONIX, France (Jan. 27) - Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) led the downhill en route to winning a World Cup super combined Sunday. Miller's U.S. record 29th World Cup victory moved him into first place overall, and with one combined event remaining, he holds a 90-point lead.

The super combined blends a shortened downhill with one run of slalom on the same day. The traditional combined mixed a DH with two runs of slalom, sometimes a "paper race" with organizers simply adding the times. Miller won a combined event last weekend in Kitzbuehel.

In the final event of the 60th Kandahar Trophy weekend, Miller built a big lead in the downhill and then posted the ninth-fastest slalom run. His total time of 2:34.58 easily held off Croatian Ivica Kostelic in 2:35.03. He also won the 2004 Kandahar combined title. Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) was 35th Sunday and T.J. Lanning (Park City, UT), the only other U.S. skier, failed to finish his second run.

Miller said he had been racing with pain after a downhill training crash Thursday and another spill Saturday in slalom training. As he tries to regain his touch in gate-running, Miller said, "The aim is slalom for me is simply to finish. If I take risks, I'm out."

After 27 races, Miller has 967 points to 905 for Benjamin Raich of Austria with Didier Cuche of Switzerland third (878). In the combined standings, Miller has 310 points after four races to 220 for Jean-Baptiste Grange of France with one race left.

The men have another downhill-super combined schedule next weekend in Val d'Isere, France.