December 09, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1428

BAD KLEINKIRCHHEIM (Austria), Dec 8: The men’s World Cup circuit returns to Europe this weekend after races in North America, with the season looking wide open after the defending overall champion was ruled out for months with injuries.

The absence of Aksel Lund Svindal, who was leading the overall standings again when he crashed in a downhill training in Colorado’s Beaver Creek last week, leaves the race for the overall title without a clear favourite ahead of Saturday’s giant slalom and Sunday’s slalom.

It is the first time since a super-G in 1992 that World Cup men’s events are held in this southern Austrian resort, marking a return for a revamped Franz Klammer course.

Svindal, who also won the World Cup giant slalom discipline along with two world championship gold medals last year, is likely out for the season because of facial fractures and groin injuries.

Daniel Albrecht of Switzerland, who now leads the overall standings with 272 points after claiming his first two career victories in giant slalom and super-combi in Beaver Creek, is expected to be the one to beat in Bad Kleinkirchheim.

Swiss veteran Didier Cuche is second overall, trailing Albrecht by 13 points in a sign that Switzerland may be regaining its status as an Alpine superpower. The 33-year-old speed specialist’s only GS victory came in 2002, but after finishing third in the discipline in Beaver Creek on Sunday, Cuche said he was ready for another win.

“I don’t want to quit my career without winning my second GS,” he said.

Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety of the United States is another contender. He leads the giant slalom standings after the first two races, finishing second at Soelden and fourth in Beaver Creek.

His fellow countryman Bode Miller cannot be counted out either, despite a slow start to the season. Miller placed only 30th in Monday’s super-G in Beaver Creek.

But the 30-year-old 2005 overall champion, who split from the U.S. ski team to go on his own, increased his efforts in the technical events ahead of the season and will have a chance here to attack Phil Mahre’s American record of 27 victories. Miller is just two wins shy of the mark. Phil’s twin brother Steve is the last skier who won a giant slalom in Bad Kleinkirchheim in 1982.

“It’s gonna be a tough race,” Miller said Friday. “It looks like a steep hill, which is usually good for me.”

The slalom race _ the second of the season - is also without a clear favorite, although Austrians Mario Matt and Benjamin Raich could be boosted by the home crowd.

Mild weather has forced organizers prepare the slopes with artificial snow and transport snow from higher-altitude regions. Snow showers and temperatures around zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) are expected for Saturday.—AP