Sestriere: Cuche gets a GS win, Jitloff fifth

By Published On: February 21st, 2009Comments Off on Sestriere: Cuche gets a GS win, Jitloff fifth

Fresh off a couple of medals from the World Championships, Didier Cuche grabbed his first World Cup win of the season taking the giant slalom at Sestriere, Italy, Saturday and halting a bid for a podium sweep from Austria.

Stephan Goergl, who did not make the Austrian championship team, was second, .61 behind the old Swiss Cuche, 34. Benjamin Raich kept his shot at the overall crown alive placing third and Romed Baumann was fourth.

With Bode Miller skipping the race, when Ted Ligety went out in the first run many thought the day was over for the U.S., but Tim Jitloff ripped the fastest run of the afternoon and moved up from 18th after the opening heat to place fifth, ten placings better than his previous best result.Fresh off a couple of medals from the World Championships, Didier Cuche grabbed his first World Cup win of the season taking the giant slalom at Sestriere, Italy, Saturday and halting a bid for a podium sweep from Austria.

Stephan Goergl, who did not make the Austrian championship team, was second, .61 behind the old Swiss Cuche, 34. Benjamin Raich kept his shot at the overall crown alive placing third and Romed Baumann was fourth.

With Bode Miller skipping the race, when Ted Ligety went out in the first run many thought the day was over for the U.S., but Tim Jitloff ripped the fastest run of the afternoon and moved up from 18th after the opening heat to place fifth, ten placings better than his previous best result.

Like the SG course he won his gold medal on in Val d’Isere the Kandahar Banchetta track at Sestriere was steep and icy, just as Cuche likes it. “It was perfect for me,” he told reporters, a point evidenced by his winning margin of .66.

As at Val d’Isere Cuche told Austrian reporters his skis were ideal for the conditions, saying “they were exactly what I wanted.”

For Goergl, left off the Austrian championship team, the result was a bit of vindication. “I knew that I am fast and have a giant joy that I proved it here.”

Raich has returned his gaze toward the possibility of picking up the overall World Cup trophy. He is now just 26 point behind Ivica Kostelic who is struggling with back pain and left Val d’Isere for treatment, skipping his best event.

Ligety ran into trouble late on the course, exiting at the same point newly crowned World GS champ Carlo Janka went out. “Ted was attacking hard,” said U.S. coach Sasha Rearick. “He leaned in after a little roll over,” and that was all she wrote.

The amazing showing from Jitloff was stunning to the casual viewer, but ski team personnel had been expecting the break through. Jitloff was coming directly from Europa Cup action at Monte Pora where he had finished third in rugged, rutted, icy conditions.

“Being on the podium at Europa Cup is not an easy thing to do,” Jitloff said before his World Cup race. “There hadn’t been an American man in that position in like six years since Dane Spencer did it. We don’t start in the points, so I was super motivated to go out and use it as training.”

He said the Sestriere track was long and tiring, but said he liked the hill a lot.

“It had all aspects, bank turns, some flatter sections, sidehills. … I like a mixed bag of stuff. It caters more to my style,” Jitloff said. He said he felt confident at the start of the second run and added, “My goal for today was top 15. I didn’t do anything special of anything like that. It was just putting two clean runs together. I knew I had the potential to be in there with the best guys.”

There was a second U.S. personal best recorded by Jake Zamansky finishing 15th.  “Jake moved up quite a bit in the second run and had to make a big recovery in the middle,” said Rearick. “We were very pleased both guys did a great job especially given Ted went out.”

The second course was set by U.S. coach Peter Korfiatis and it was the first World Cup course he has set.

“He did a really nice job,” said Rearick, “he used the terrain and was as creative as he could be.”



The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men’s Giant Slalom, Sestriere, Italy, Feb. 21, 2009

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Goergl, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
3 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Baumann, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Jitloff, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Jansrud, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Sandell, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Men’s Giant Slalom, Sestriere, Italy, Feb. 21. … It is the 27th race of the men’s 38 race 2009 World Cup schedule. … It is the sixth of eight giant slaloms on the schedule. … The first since Adelboden, Switzerland Jan. 10. … It is the first of two races for this stop, including a super combined Sunday. … It is the 57th World Cup at Sestriere including a knock-out slalom for each gender (2002) and a combined split with Val d’Isere in 1985. … It is the ninth Cup GS at Sestriere. … The fifth men’s GS.

It is the ninth career World Cup win for Didier Cuche. … His second in GS and his first in GS since Jan. 5, 2002 at Adelboden. … It is his second win of the season, the other bringing a gold medal in SG at the World Championships in Val d’Isere. … It is the 11th World Cup win of the season for Switzerland and fourth in GS (fifth counting Worlds).

It is the fifth career World Cup podium for Stephan Goergl and third in GS. … It is his first podium of the season, the last previous coming Jan. 7, 2006 at Adelboden.

It is the 79th career World Cup podium for Benjamin Raich. … His 29th in GS. … It is his first World Cup podium at Sestriere. … He did win both the Olympic slalom and GS at Sestriere in 2006. … It is his sixth podium of the season including a silver medal in GS from World Championships.

It is the first career World Cup top 10 for Tim Jitloff. … His previous best had been 15th in slalom at Alta Badia in December. … He has just four scoring result in World Cup, all from this season. … It was also a career best result for Jake Zamansky of three career scores all from this season. … It is the ninth best career result for Jean-Philippe Roy and his best this season. … All five of his scoring results this season have come in GS. … It is the ninth career World Cup GS score for John Kucera. … It is his first placing in GS this season.

Ivica Kostelic (11th in race) maintains his hold on the World Cup overall standings 766-740 over Benjamin Raich. … Jean-Baptiste Grange (13th in race) is third at 726. … Top American on the overall chart is Bode Miller (did not race) in eighth with 517pts. … Raich holds the lead in the GS standings 346-334 over Cuche. … Ted Ligety (DNF 1st) is third at 241.


Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
 1  7  510030 CUCHE Didier  1974  SUI   1:22.76  1:26.81  2:49.57  0.00
 2  25  50600 GOERGL Stephan  1978  AUT   1:24.04  1:26.19  2:50.23  3.43
 3  3  50625 RAICH Benjamin  1978  AUT   1:23.73  1:26.73  2:50.46  4.62
 4  23  51215 BAUMANN Romed  1986  AUT   1:23.27  1:27.35  2:50.62  5.45
 5  34  534959 JITLOFF Tim  1985  USA   1:25.10  1:25.58  2:50.68  5.76
 6  13  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel  1989  AUT   1:24.17  1:26.53  2:50.70  5.86
 7  31  293006 INNERHOFER Christof  1984  ITA   1:25.22  1:25.77  2:50.99  7.37
 8  5  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund  1982  NOR   1:23.75  1:27.25  2:51.00  7.42
 9  10  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil  1985  NOR   1:24.42  1:26.61  2:51.03  7.58
 10  26  180534 SANDELL Marcus  1987  FIN   1:25.31  1:25.74  2:51.05  7.68
 11  15  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica  1979  CRO   1:24.36  1:26.72  2:51.08  7.84
 12  11  191423 RICHARD Cyprien  1979  FRA   1:25.23  1:25.91  2:51.14  8.15
 13  14  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste  1984  FRA   1:24.61  1:26.59  2:51.20  8.46
 14  19  191750 FANARA Thomas  1981  FRA   1:24.60  1:26.63  2:51.23  8.61
 15  43  533397 ZAMANSKY Jake  1981  USA   1:25.24  1:26.09  2:51.33  9.13
 16  4  292000 BLARDONE Massimiliano  1979  ITA   1:23.74  1:27.65  2:51.39  9.45
 17  49  50707 MATT Mario  1979  AUT   1:25.22  1:26.32  2:51.54  10.22
 18  30  511352 VILETTA Sandro  1986  SUI   1:25.94  1:25.61  2:51.55  10.28
 19  36  101895 ROY Jean-Philippe  1979  CAN   1:25.60  1:26.15  2:51.75  11.31
 20  20  51007 SCHOERGHOFER Philipp  1983  AUT   1:25.60  1:26.16  2:51.76  11.37
 21  1  292491 MOELGG Manfred  1982  ITA   1:23.76  1:28.04  2:51.80  11.57
 22  18  292455 FILL Peter  1982  ITA   1:24.88  1:26.98  2:51.86  11.88
 23  9  292120 SIMONCELLI Davide  1979  ITA   1:24.91  1:27.03  2:51.94  12.30
 24  32  51159 NOESIG Christoph  1985  AUT   1:25.49  1:26.52  2:52.01  12.66
 25  33  192506 MISSILLIER Steve  1984  FRA   1:25.47  1:26.69  2:52.16  13.44
 26  17  102873 KUCERA John  1984  CAN   1:25.00  1:27.23  2:52.23  13.80
 27  29  420148 KARLSEN Truls Ove  1975  NOR   1:24.81  1:27.58  2:52.39  14.63
 28  22  191746 DE TESSIERES Gauthier  1981  FRA   1:25.75  1:26.71  2:52.46  15.00
 29  27  290693 PLONER Alexander  1978  ITA   1:25.53  1:27.02  2:52.55  15.46
Disqualified 1st run
   24  190677 CHENAL Joel  1973  FRA         
Did not qualify 1st run
   67  370022 JENOT Olivier  1988  MON         
   66  410198 HOWDEN Angus  1981  NZE         
   65  102435 JANYK Michael  1982  CAN         
   63  380298 SIROKI Tin  1987  CRO         
   62  294911 PATSCHEIDER Hagen  1988  ITA         
   60  561032 JAZBEC Janez  1984  SLO         
   59  510747 GRUENENFELDER Tobias  1977  SUI         
   58  100115 GRANDI Thomas  1972  CAN         
   56  421859 NILSEN Markus  1989  NOR         
   54  501026 RAINER Niklas  1983  SWE         
   53  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier  1980  ARG         
   52  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix  1984  GER         
   51  501017 MYHRER Andre  1983  SWE         
   48  192653 FREY Thomas  1984  FRA         
   47  511127 GINI Marc  1984  SUI         
   46  290896 HELL Wolfgang  1980  ITA         
   45  191778 PICHOT Sebastien  1981  FRA         
   42  534040 COCHRAN Jimmy  1981  USA         
   41  501324 OLSSON Matts  1988  SWE         
   39  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas  1984  FRA         
   38  560425 VAJDIC Bernard  1980  SLO         
   37  150644 KRYZL Krystof  1986  CZE         
   35  180292 LEINO Jukka  1978  FIN         
   21  50451 GRUBER Christoph  1976  AUT         
   12  510997 BERTHOD Marc  1983  SUI         
Did not finish 2nd run
   16  510727 DEFAGO Didier  1977  SUI         
Did not finish 1st run
   64  501101 BYGGMARK Jens  1985  SWE         
   61  501076 OLSSON Hans  1984  SWE         
   57  193986 PLACE Francois  1989  FRA         
   55  150421 ZAHROBSKY Petr  1980  CZE         
   50  290910 LONGHI Omar  1980  ITA         
   44  51332 SCHEIBER Florian  1987  AUT         
   40  102239 COUSINEAU Julien  1981  CAN         
   28  560406 GORZA Ales  1980  SLO         
   8  50742 REICHELT Hannes  1980  AUT         
   6  534562 LIGETY Ted  1984  USA         
   2  511313 JANKA Carlo  1986  SUI         


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About the Author: Pete Rugh