Hamburg - Austrian Benjamin Raich goes into the new alpine season - which starts on the weekend in the Austrian town of Soelden - looking for a second overall World Cup title.

The 30-year-old, who has also won 30 World Cup races, however, is aware that even though he is one of the favourites, he is far from guaranteed to repeat his 2006 success.

"Winning the overall World Cup is my big goal. But it is not possible to plan something like that ahead. It just has to happen. I have tried to ensure that I have my chances by concentrating on my preparations," he told Austrian media.

Raich has a good reason to say that success in skiing is not predictable. After all, his girlfriend Marlies Schild was one of the favourites to win the women's title.

That is, until the second week of October, when she suffered a serious fracture of her leg, which will result in her missing the complete season.

Officials of the sport's controlling body FIS earlier this week gave the go-ahead for the weekend's races.

"Overall the conditions are good regardless of the rather thin snow cover. The cold weather in the last several days and freezing temperatures especially at night have facilitated the preparations," Markus Mayr said.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal and American Bode Miller won the large crystal globe in the last two years.

Raich sees Svindal, Miller and Swiss Didier Cuche and Daniel Albrecht as his main opponents, but a question mark must hang over the Norwegian, who has not raced since crashing in the US last December, where he suffered a back injury and cut himself.

Austrian head coach Toni Giger tries to downplay his country's expectations. "Of course we want to bring the overall title back to Austria, but we need to be realistic. We only have Raich, who is considered as one of the favourites."

If Raich wants to start the season with a strong showing, he will need to do better in Soelden than in previous years, having two fourth-places and one fifth-place as his best finishes.

"I have been close a few times, but have never managed to get onto the podium," he said.

Svindal won last year in Soelden, while Miller has also won there twice.

In the women's competition, there are plenty of favourites around, even if Schild, who last season finished fourth in the overall standings, will miss the season.

Defending champions American Lindsey Vonn can expect tough competition from her compatriot Julia Mancuso, while Germany's Maria Riesch is hoping to become the first German winner since 1998, when Katja Seizinger took the title.

Austrian Nicole Hosp, who won in 2007 and possibly two-time winner Anja Paerson could also take the crown.

The Austrian women's head coach Herbert Mandl said that their whole team was shocked when the 20-time World Cup winner Schild broke her leg.

"That is something that you can't just put aside. You can't replace a winner like that. It is not only a shock for her, it was also a huge loss for the whole team. We will feel that, no question about it. Her potential to win will be missed by the whole team," he said.

Italian Denise Karbon, who is not expected to feature as a contender for the overall title, won the race in Soelden last season.

The highlight this season is undoubtedly the world championships in Val d'Isere, where Svindal and Paerson are hoping to add to the two and three gold medals they won respectively at the last championships in Sweden's Are.