Sölden: Winners must attack, not hold back

By Published On: October 21st, 2008Comments Off on Sölden: Winners must attack, not hold back

Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso, who each finished second in last year’s World Cup season-opening GS, should lead the way again for the U.S. alpine team this weekend on a Sölden race hill that’s short on steeps and made to be attacked. 
    "Sölden is a hill that if you don't go out and attack it, you're out," U.S. men’s alpine head coach Sasha Rearick says.

Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso, who each finished second in last year’s World Cup season-opening GS, should lead the way again for the U.S. alpine team this weekend on a Sölden race hill that’s short on steeps and made to be attacked.  
    "Ted gets this hill," U.S. men’s alpine head coach Sasha Rearick says. "Solden starts out with a long flat section at the top followed by a big right-hand breakover with a steep pitch. Then it's pretty flat again at the bottom. He did a good amount of speed training this summer and is much better prepared for keeping his speed in those flatter sections. He's already got the steeps nailed."
    For the 11th year, the Rettenbach Glacier above the Oetztal Valley in Sölden will host the World Cup alpine opener. The women race Saturday and the men will go on Sunday.
    "This is a World Championship year and a set-up year for the 2010 Olympics. Our athletes know that and stepped it up this summer with their preparation," says USSA Alpine Director Jesse Hunt. "We had awesome snow for our summer camps in New Zealand and Chile, and both men's and women's coaching staffs have done an outstanding job utilizing those opportunities."
    Ligety, the reigning World Cup GS champion, will seek to jump-start his defense of that title on Sunday. Also starting for the American men are reining overall World Cup champion Bode Miller, 2003 World Championships GS bronze medalist Erik Schlopy, reigning U.S. GS champion Jimmy Cochran and NorAm GS champ Jake Zamansky. Tim Jitloff, who suffered a sprained ankle while training in Chile in September, should also start.
    "'Schlopes' is in great physical shape and has something to prove this season. Jimmy is in a good place to do a lot this winter and if Jitloff is completely healthy, he'll go in Sölden. We've got a clear plan for everyone on the team," Rearick says. "It's been working perfectly in terms of getting everyone completely prepared for an important World Cup year. Sölden is a hill that if you don't go out and attack it, you're out."
    In addition to Mancuso, American women expected to start at Sölden are reigning World Cup overall and downhill champion Lindsey Vonn, Olympians Stacey Cook and Sarah Schleper, three-time NorAm GS champion Jessica Kelley, two-time NorAm GS champ Megan McJames and Keely Kelleher. Leanne Smith and Chelsea Marshall may also start for the U.S.
    For Schleper, it will be her first World Cup start in two seasons. After missing the end of the 2006 season and all of 2007 while recovering from a torn ACL, Schleper opted not to ski the 2008 season in order to start a family. Husband Federico Gaxiola and son Lasse, born in January, will be on the sidelines in Sölden.
    "We've had really good training all summer and it will be good for the team to go through a race set," says U.S. women's head coach Jim Tracy. " Sölden is not a super hard hill to begin the year on, but it's not an easy one either. There are at least five gates on the steep section that you have to be on. That's where this race is usually decided."
    To prepare, the racers have been training at Pitztal, a nearby glacier with a steep pitch comparable to Sölden.
    "Pitztal is probably the best place around to train at this point in the season. The girls are all in great shape and are excited to get things going. We'll fire it up here and then really get into the season with Aspen over Thanksgiving," Tracy said.
    Warm temperatures have closed all training in Sölden prior to the race, but coaches say there is plenty of snow on the slope and that colder fronts are on the way.
    "They're calling for some cold weather leading up to race weekend," said Rearick. "They have plenty of snow on that slope. It's really wide, so there's room to do some [snow] farming. They'll likely fire up the guns whenever they get the opportunity. We'll race."
   
    — U.S. Ski Team press release

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