Americans 5-6-7 in snowy Cortina

Viktoria Rebensburg, Nicole Schmidhofer and Tina Maze may have been on the podium, but the weather was the big winner in Cortina d’Ampezzo Sunday.

On a challenging super G course in and of itself, steady snowfall throughout the race made it that much tougher, and the later racers took the brunt of the disadvantage. In most instances, this race probably would have been cast aside, but several nations, including the U.S., were hoping to make their final World Championship team considerations.

One of the racers with an unideal start position was yesterday’s downhill winner Lindsey Vonn, who has won four previous super Gs in Cortina. It wouldn’t be her day, however, as the conditions deteriorated and she wound up a second off the pace of Rebensburg at the first interval. Vonn was able to make up a little bit of time toward the bottom, but in the end, seventh was the best result she could muster.

“It was exciting to compete. I was happy to be out there,” said Vonn. “It was definitely tough conditions, but at least we got a race. We already had one super G cancelled this year, so I was nervous that we would have a second. It was difficult to punch in there today. The snow was definitely soft. I got sucked a little bit low on the top section and was able to make up time on the bottom, but it just wasn’t enough.”

Germany’s Rebensburg, primarily a GS specialist, proved once again she’s making progress in the speed events, picking up her second career super G win with a time of 1 minute, 16.45 seconds. Rebensburg got her first speed-event win at last season’s World Cup Final in Schladming.

For current World Cup Overall frontrunner Tina Maze it was just another day on the podium. Running 17th, she looked strong and tallied another 60 points onto her massive lead over the rest of the world.

Also unaided by her start position, Julia Mancuso, bib No. 21, certainly didn’t get off to the start she would have liked, losing grip of her pole and taking an awkward stumble on her way to the first gate, but she was able to regain both her balance and grasp of the ski pole for a fifth place result.

“I think it was really tough to be fast in the back. It was snowing really hard, but it’s always fun to race here in Cortina,” said Mancuso. “[The visibility] was OK until the bottom. I had to wipe my goggles coming around the corner, but I don’t think that cost me too much time.”

Finishing just behind her in sixth was New Hampshire’s Leanne Smith, who was able to carry over some momentum from Saturday’s downhill podium, as Americans ultimately occupied the 5-6-7 spots.

“The snow came in pretty heavy this morning,” said Smith. “There were a lot of little piles throughout the course. It was kind of one of those days that if you were in the right place at the right time, you’re going to keep carrying your speed. There’s still some snow in the course. If you get off line, forget it. … I’m definitely please with my result. I let it all hang out again and had a couple little bobbles, but on a day like today, if you’re not aggressive, you’re going to be in the back of the pack.”

Story by Geoff Mintz
Photos by GEPA

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee

Women’s World Cup super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 20, 2013
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2 Schmidhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
4 Ruiz Castillo, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Mancuso, Head/Head/Head
6 Smith, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
7 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
8 Gut, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Marchand-Arvier, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Aufdenbolatten, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic

Women’s World Cup super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 20, 2013. … It is the 44th race of the 2012-13 World Cup schedule. … It is the 24th of 43 events on the women’s schedule. … The 23rd to be held. … It is the fifth of eight scheduled women’s super G’s. … The fourth to be held (Val d’Isere is yet to be rescheduled). … It is the 87th Cup race hosted by Cortina. … the 26th super G. … Lindsey Vonn has won the last four consecutive super G’s held at the site. … It is snowing and foggy.

It is the tenth career World Cup victory for Viktoria Rebensburg. … her second in super G, the previous at Schladming last March. … It is her second win and fourth podium of the season. … It is her second podium at Cortina having placed second in a GS Jan. 24, 2010.

It is the first career Cup podium – and first career Cup top 10 – for Nicola Schmidhofer. … Her previous best had been 12th in super G at Val d’Isere Dec. 20, 2009. … She had not been better than 23rd in any race at Cortina, and that was Jan. 19 in the downhill. … Her best previously this season had been 15th in SG at St Moritz Dec. 18.

It is the 53rd career World Cup podium result for Tina Maze. … her 11th in super G. … It is her third career posdium at Cortina, and second at Cortina this season. … It is her 15th podium of the season and third in SG. … She has podiumed in six disciplines this season (DH,SL,GS,SG,CMB and the city event).

It is the 58th career Cup top five for Julia Mancuso. … her fourth this season, third in SG. … It is the career fourth best Cup result for Leanne Smith. … her third best of the season and second best of the weekend. … It is the 148th time Lindsey Vonn has finished in the top seven of a World Cup race. … It is her 20th best placing in Cup races at Cortina. … Laurenne Ross matches her seventh best finish at Cortina. … It is her fourth best finish of the season.

Maze leads the World Cup Overall Standings 1474-756 over Maria Hoefl-Riesch (19th in race). … Anna Fenninger (17th in race) is third with 644. … Vonn is fourth with 640, Mikaela Shiffrin (did not race) seventh with 526, and Mancuso eighth with 521pts. … Marie-Michele Gagnon (did not race) leads Canada in 20th with 225pts. … Maze overtakes Vonn for the lead of the super G standings 290-286. … Mancuso is third with 225pts and Leanne Smith tenth with 88pts. … Gagnon leads Canada in 26th place with 36pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 3150-2542 over the US. … Germany is third with 1839 and Canada ninth with 531pts. … The US leads the super G standings 678-581 over Austria.

Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA)
FIS World Cup
Ladies’ Super G