Weibrecht career best World Cup result in Kitzbuehel
KITZBUEHEL, Austria — American Andrew Weibrecht was able to harness some of that Olympic mojo on Friday, skiing to his career best World Cup result, fifth place in the Hahnenkamm super G opener. Weibrecht has had a relatively quiet season, skiing to 10th in Beaver Creek but otherwise not able to rekindle the spark he demonstrated in Sochi — until today.
Weibrecht was outpaced by just over a half-second by Italy’s Dominik Paris, who grabbed the first super G win of his career and was followed by a pair of Austrians, Matthias Mayer in second and Georg Streitberger in third.
When he came through the finish, Weibrecht knew he had a solid run on his hands but wasn’t exactly sure where it would stack up. Running 15th and sitting in third at that point in the race, he was pumped to say the least.
“You never really know,” Weibrecht said. “It’s one of those things where I pushed really hard. I had a plan to really attack. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes you can overdo it. I felt like I skied my plan. It just worked out that today obviously was pretty quick.”
Weibrecht recently had two Europa Cup downhill starts in Zauchensee to help lower his points and gain some confidence. It seems to have worked.
“I had a good start to the season, but not a great start,” said Weibrecht. “I had a couple runs that were really competitive — in particular Beaver Creek — but I really wanted to start out 2015 skiing really strong and carry everything I had into the New Year.”
Friday’s set didn’t jump out at Weibrecht as one that would suit his style — pretty wide open and not highly technical — but he stuck to the plan and managed to surprise himself. It’s that kind of adaptability that gives him a boost of confidence heading into the World Champs on home snow next month.
“To not love the set and to have the run that I had, I’m really psyched. I feel really good about it, so it’s full game-on in Vail,” Weibrecht said.
Meanwhile, one would think the wide-open set could benefit a downhiller like Steven Nyman, and that proved to be the case as Utah native matched the second best super G result of his career, 13th. He hadn’t cracked the top 20 in the discipline since 2007.
“Kitzbuehel is interesting. It’s a sprint. It’s only a minute-ten, so you just have to go,” said Nyman. “Dominik (Paris) was able to risk it, and he got away with a lot and ended up with the win.
“For me, I skied pretty well,” added Nyman. “I was pretty balanced. I risked it on the Hausburg, but got bounced pretty low and didn’t really drive once I landed. It could have been pretty good probably in the top 10.”
More than anything else, Nyman credits a new ski model for helping to improve his super G skiing. “I just went with them. They’re new and I didn’t know if they would be very fast, but they were,” he said.
The result provides Nyman with good confidence heading into tomorrow’s marquee Hahnenkamm event, the downhill.
“It’s a good confidence builder, especially with the way I dropped into the Hausberg. It took a lot of guts to do the line I was trying, and the guys that were pretty fast were doing it,” said Nyman. “You just make that decision right before. I think that will pay off because the Hausburg is something that has eaten me up in the past.”
Ted Ligety missed a gate on the final pitch after the Hausberg above the finish to record a DNF on the day.
Meanwhile, Bode Miller again ran POV for Universal Sports Network. He was expected to do the same in the downhill, but citing “back problems” it was revealed in team captains meeting he will not run the Streif in any way, shape or form on Saturday.
Perhaps more than any other racer, Paris will head into the downhill brimming with confidence. The Italian believes he won the race, his first super G, from the Hausburg through to the finish, and that’s something he can certainly use on Saturday.
“We will see what is up tomorrow,” said Paris. “I will make a good race. The first part I need to ski very good, and we will see what will happen after the Hausburg.”
The Scoop
By Hank McKee
1 Paris, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2 Mayer, Head/Head/Head
3 Streitberger, Head/Head/Head
4 Theaux, Head/Head/Head
5 Weibrecht, Head/Head/Head
6 Striedinger, Blizzard/Tecnica/Tyrolia
7 Jansrud, Head/Head/Head
8 Kueng, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Franz, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
Men’s World Cup super G Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 23, 2015:
- It is the 21st of 36 races on the men’s 2015 World Cup calendar … the fourth of seven scheduled super Gs. … It is the first race of the four event 75th Hahnenkamm. … It is the 157th World Cup race hosted (at least in part) by Kitzbuehel. … The 15th super G. … Didier Defago is the defending super G champion. … The race will count as the first half of the Hahnenkamm combined.
- It is the fourth career World Cup win for Dominik Paris, his second at Kitzbuehel having previously won the 2013 downhill. … It is his first Cup super G victory. … It is his first win, and fifth podium of the season. … It is the fastest winning super G time in Kitzbuehel World Cup history. … Winning margin is .06. … Top 11 are within a second. … Top 33 within two seconds.
- It is the eighth World Cup podium for Matthias Mayer … his fifth in super G. … It is the second time he has finished second in a super G at Kitzbuehel, the previous in 2013 behind Aksel Lund Svindal. … It is his third second-place finish this season.
- It is the ninth career World Cup podium for Georg Streitberger … the seventh in super G. … It is his third podium at Kitzbuehel, all in super G. … It is his first podium of the season.
- It is a career best fifth place for Andrew Weibrecht. … His previous best a seventh, also in super G, at Kvitfjell last March 2. … Steven Nyman matches his second best career World Cup super G finish. … It is the ninth best World Cup result for Dustin Cook. … his fourth best of the season.
- Marcel Hirscher (44th in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 836-705 over Kjetil Jansrud (seventh in race). … Fritz Dopfer and Felix Neureuther, neither raced) are tied for third overall with 542pts each. … Ted Ligety (DNF) is eighth with 420pts.
- Jansrud leads the super G standings 316-285 over Paris. … Hannes Reichelt (24th in race) is third with 207pts. … Weibrecht is eighth with 94 super G pts. …Cook is 13th with 76pts.
- Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 3039-2046 over France. … Italy is third with 1936pts. … The U.S. is seventh at 1211pts and Canada ninth at 413pts.
Results
1 | 16 | 291459 | PARIS Dominik | 1989 | ITA | 1:09.99 | 0.00 | |||
2 | 20 | 53902 | MAYER Matthias | 1990 | AUT | 1:10.05 | +0.06 | 0.93 | ||
3 | 13 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:10.33 | +0.34 | 5.25 | ||
4 | 27 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:10.50 | +0.51 | 7.87 | ||
5 | 15 | 530939 | WEIBRECHT Andrew | 1986 | USA | 1:10.56 | +0.57 | 8.80 | ||
6 | 18 | 54005 | STRIEDINGER Otmar | 1991 | AUT | 1:10.67 | +0.68 | 10.49 | ||
7 | 21 | 421483 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | 1:10.77 | +0.78 | 12.04 | ||
8 | 17 | 511139 | KUENG Patrick | 1984 | SUI | 1:10.80 | +0.81 | 12.50 | ||
9 | 11 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 1:10.82 | +0.83 | 12.81 | ||
10 | 22 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:10.84 | +0.85 | 13.12 | ||
10 | 10 | 53817 | FRANZ Max | 1989 | AUT | 1:10.84 | +0.85 | 13.12 | ||
12 | 5 | 150398 | BANK Ondrej | 1980 | CZE | 1:11.07 | +1.08 | 16.67 | ||
13 | 39 | 533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | 1:11.11 | +1.12 | 17.28 | ||
13 | 34 | 511513 | CAVIEZEL Mauro | 1988 | SUI | 1:11.11 | +1.12 | 17.28 | ||
15 | 2 | 191740 | CLAREY Johan | 1981 | FRA | 1:11.12 | +1.13 | 17.44 | ||
16 | 25 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 1:11.15 | +1.16 | 17.90 | ||
17 | 4 | 511383 | FEUZ Beat | 1987 | SUI | 1:11.19 | +1.20 | 18.52 | ||
18 | 8 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 1:11.20 | +1.21 | 18.67 | ||
19 | 30 | 100558 | COOK Dustin | 1989 | CAN | 1:11.22 | +1.23 | 18.98 | ||
20 | 6 | 53980 | KRIECHMAYR Vincent | 1991 | AUT | 1:11.23 | +1.24 | 19.13 | ||
21 | 12 | 511313 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:11.26 | +1.27 | 19.60 | ||
22 | 32 | 202059 | FERSTL Josef | 1988 | GER | 1:11.27 | +1.28 | 19.75 | ||
23 | 26 | 511352 | VILETTA Sandro | 1986 | SUI | 1:11.35 | +1.36 | 20.99 | ||
24 | 19 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | 1:11.36 | +1.37 | 21.14 | ||
25 | 9 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 1:11.46 | +1.47 | 22.68 | ||
26 | 45 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:11.49 | +1.50 | 23.15 | ||
27 | 31 | 53936 | DUERAGER Markus | 1990 | AUT | 1:11.56 | +1.57 | 24.23 | ||
28 | 63 | 192932 | FAYED Guillermo | 1985 | FRA | 1:11.60 | +1.61 | 24.84 | ||
29 | 41 | 561217 | KOSI Klemen | 1991 | SLO | 1:11.67 | +1.68 | 25.92 | ||
30 | 61 | 294277 | KLOTZ Siegmar | 1987 | ITA | 1:11.71 | +1.72 | 26.54 | ||
31 | 33 | 53933 | SCHWEIGER Patrick | 1990 | AUT | 1:11.75 | +1.76 | 27.16 | ||
32 | 57 | 191964 | POISSON David | 1982 | FRA | 1:11.83 | +1.84 | 28.39 | ||
33 | 38 | 990081 | CASSE Mattia | 1990 | ITA | 1:11.95 | +1.96 | 30.24 | ||
34 | 43 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 1:12.01 | +2.02 | 31.17 | ||
35 | 58 | 293141 | VARETTONI Silvano | 1984 | ITA | 1:12.11 | +2.12 | 32.71 | ||
36 | 42 | 934643 | GOLDBERG Jared | 1991 | USA | 1:12.14 | +2.15 | 33.18 | ||
37 | 7 | 51327 | PUCHNER Joachim | 1987 | AUT | 1:12.17 | +2.18 | 33.64 | ||
38 | 46 | 560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | 1:12.19 | +2.20 | 33.95 | ||
38 | 44 | 200379 | SANDER Andreas | 1989 | GER | 1:12.19 | +2.20 | 33.95 | ||
40 | 52 | 561067 | PERKO Rok | 1985 | SLO | 1:12.25 | +2.26 | 34.87 | ||
41 | 54 | 103271 | THOMSEN Benjamin | 1987 | CAN | 1:12.37 | +2.38 | 36.73 | ||
42 | 64 | 194167 | MUZATON Maxence | 1990 | FRA | 1:12.49 | +2.50 | 38.58 | ||
43 | 68 | 430429 | BYDLINSKI Maciej | 1988 | POL | 1:12.67 | +2.68 | 41.35 | ||
44 | 3 | 53831 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 1:12.77 | +2.78 | 42.90 | ||
45 | 70 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | 1:13.07 | +3.08 | 47.53 | ||
46 | 40 | 534959 | JITLOFF Tim | 1985 | USA | 1:13.08 | +3.09 | 47.68 | ||
47 | 73 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 1:13.32 | +3.33 | 51.38 | ||
48 | 60 | 511896 | MURISIER Justin | 1992 | SUI | 1:13.47 | +3.48 | 53.70 | ||
49 | 56 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 1:13.59 | +3.60 | 55.55 | ||
50 | 71 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | 1:13.63 | +3.64 | 56.17 | ||
51 | 69 | 150495 | VRABLIK Martin | 1982 | CZE | 1:15.31 | +5.32 | 82.09 | ||
Did not start 1st run | ||||||||||
74 | 151024 | KOTZMANN Adam | 1993 | CZE | ||||||
66 | 530165 | BRANDENBURG Will | 1987 | USA | ||||||
49 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | ||||||
23 | 103612 | PRIDY Morgan | 1990 | CAN | ||||||
Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
72 | 660021 | DANILOCHKIN Yuri | 1991 | BLR | ||||||
67 | 150743 | BERNDT Ondrej | 1988 | CZE | ||||||
65 | 103676 | BROWN Phil | 1991 | CAN | ||||||
62 | 930024 | MAPLE Wiley | 1990 | USA | ||||||
59 | 533131 | SULLIVAN Marco | 1980 | USA | ||||||
55 | 481705 | GLEBOV Alexander | 1983 | RUS | ||||||
53 | 511529 | GISIN Marc | 1988 | SUI | ||||||
51 | 50753 | KROELL Klaus | 1980 | AUT | ||||||
50 | 561216 | KLINE Bostjan | 1991 | SLO | ||||||
48 | 561255 | CATER Martin | 1992 | SLO | ||||||
47 | 194542 | GIRAUD MOINE Valentin | 1992 | FRA | ||||||
37 | 531452 | BIESEMEYER Thomas | 1989 | USA | ||||||
36 | 511638 | TUMLER Thomas | 1989 | SUI | ||||||
35 | 202196 | BRANDNER Klaus | 1990 | GER | ||||||
29 | 194190 | ROGER Brice | 1990 | FRA | ||||||
28 | 293550 | MARSAGLIA Matteo | 1985 | ITA | ||||||
24 | 530874 | GANONG Travis | 1988 | USA | ||||||
14 | 192504 | MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas | 1984 | FRA | ||||||
1 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA |