VAL D'ISERE, France — Bode Miller has decided to take a rare midseason break from the ski tour after another disappointing major championship.

The defending overall champion will skip two World Cup races — a giant slalom and a super-combi — in Sestriere, Italy, next weekend, saying he will return to the tour in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in two weeks.

"I wanted a break and I want some warm weather," Miller told The Associated Press after skiing out in the slalom that concluded the World Championships on Sunday.

This marks the third straight major championship in which Miller has not won a medal. His best finish was eighth in downhill, when he was slowed by severe fog, and 12th in super-G. He failed to finish his final three races.

Bothered by a bad ankle, Miller has not won a race all season. His best shot at a prize could be the World Cup downhill title. In the downhill standings, Miller trails leader Michael Walchhofer by 35 points with three races remaining.

Last season, Miller lost the downhill title to Didier Cuche when the final race of the season was canceled.

"We've been planning this for a while," Forest Carey, Miller's personal coach, said of the break, adding that Miller would head home to New Hampshire. "With the way the season has gone he needs to rest the ankle. His mind needs a rest, too."

Miller mentioned earlier this week that he was considering retirement, but Carey indicated that has nothing to do with this break.

"That's a different issue," Carey said. "Bode will address that at the end of the season."

By skipping Sestriere, Miller won't have to revisit memories of the Alpine site for the 2006 Turin Olympics, when his best finish was fifth in downhill and he made more headlines for his late-night partying.

Miller also failed to win a medal at the last worlds in Are, Sweden, two years ago.

He is renowned for skiing every race in every discipline, but ranks only eighth in this season's overall World Cup standings with 517 points. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia leads with 742 points.

After going out in the slalom, Miller stood along the course for about a half hour and reflected as other racers came down.

"It's the same as my career. The results are disappointing, the skiing wasn't," Miller said. "I skied hard the whole time. I showed that I have speed. I showed that I'm not afraid to go out and race hard.

"Those are things that I feel are important, but at the end of the day you need to execute and get to the finish line and that obviously was a problem for me here."