The World Cup According to Grande: The Boys did not get it done, Girls go GS tomorrow

Disappointing day for the USA men, optimism for the women.

My 12 year son is next to me trying to play “Sunshine of your Love” by Cream and the Blues Scale in E Minor on his new guitar. I can’t tell you how much better this feels than being in a hotel room in Val d’Isere at this same time, last year. I am not complaining, it was what I wanted to do, but this moment reminds me why I am home more now.

Anyway, the boys kind of failed today. Ted worked hard and things don’t always work out in your favor.  There can be snow when you have a TV break scheduled. The track can get slow, the track can be low when you want to set it up; other guys can have their “moment.”  In a quick review, Carlo Janka(SUI) won the race today. Gold medalist and he deserved it. He has skied extremely well, especially in GS, since Whistler 2 years ago. Romed Baumann of Austria had an excellent day, as did Marcel Hirscher; both did not score metal, but both looked good and skied well. They came very close. But the thing is…Austria has no metal again. And the press will certainly rip them on it. If you want to see the press ripping athletes and staff; check out www.kleinezeitung.com. The coolest thing I saw all day was the move Kjeitl Jansrud made on run 2 into Silver Medal position. I love the guy; he is a great kid with a wonderful attitude. And he is a solid skier, all the way around.  He also deserves his medal, he has worked hard to get here and he finally has. Great job Kjeitl! Heja! And again to Aksel, a great job. You are the man!

I am going to leave it on the positive because this is probably my favorite podium possible in GS aside from the USA boys and Canada accompanying them.

Tomorrow is the women’s GS. The hill is similar to the men’s in pitch and vertical. For tomorrow, Christian Schwaiger (GER) and Anders Paerson(SWE) are setting in that order. The Germans have some real contenders in GS starting early. Kati Hoelzl starts 1 and is the World Cup GS leader thus far. Victoria Rebensburg starts 2 and obviously has a chance at this one as she is a strong SG skier. This hill favors the woman who can make long turns. Schwaiger also has Maria Riesch starting 12.

I have to admit, the bigger DH girls have a chance on this hill but I think they are lacking confidence enough to really push the line in GS. And, as I scan down the list I see a lot of contenders. With Anders Paerson setting second run, he will try to help Anja as much as he can but this is not a hill for her. She has always been a big-event skier but this hill is too long for her and the snow will likely be slow.

THE FAVORITES:

Kati Hoelzl (GER): The GS leader with the number one bib? Who would bet against her? I think she will be right in the mix as long as Schwaiger keeps it simple with the course set. Rebensburg starts 2 and she is one of my favorite younger skiers on the women’s tour. She is very aggressive when she feels the moment and could surprise. Tanja Poutiainen(FIN) goes 3 and as good of a skier she is, I just don’t think this hill is her strength. Zettel is a strong skier but is very small. I just don’t see it happening for her. Manuela Moelgg (ITA): She is good but again, It just does not seem to fit her strength.

Maria Pietilae-Holmner (SWE): A very strong skier and a Swede setting run 2 should help her.

Tina Maze(SLO): She is on a roll after her SG result so I would think she is in the running for something good here. The hill fits her ability with lots of room in the set. I am thinking she hits the podium again.

Federica Brignone (ITA): She is a junior from Italy. Yes, a junior. She just competed in France at the World Junior Championships. She has also been 4th a number of times this year. Don’t count her out as the hill is not intimidating at all.

Tessa Worley (FRA): One of my favorites! I think Tess is a great skier and she brings a ton of attitude to every run on the World Cup. If she can tap that energy on both runs tomorrow, she could contend.

Denise Karbon (ITA)- Denise is the best  female technical GS skier on the World Cup. If anyone would like to argue about it, let’s get together and have the discussion. She has been for years. But my point is, if she executes she can win anywhere, anytime if it comes together. She was injured earlier in the year with a meniscus tear. We did not hear about it because she did not say anything about it…she just suffered in silence. Well, she could be ready now…

THE CANADIANS:

Marie-Pier Prefontaine and Marie-Michele Gagnon start 31 and 32 as the best ranked Canadians. These girls are very good and very aggressive but they need to step up and move up so they can make a move to the top. The good thing is that they have very little expectation on them. The Canadians also start Shona Rubens and Britt Janyk. I do not know Shona much at all but Britt was once a solid World Cup GS skier. She will need to find that form and hope it all works out to be anywhere near the podium. Nonetheless, I wish her luck, she is an excellent athlete and works hard. I wish her the best.

AMERICANS:

OK, we know that Lindsey has delivered with her medals. And Julia decided it was time again to kill it. And here we are in Jules’ defense from last Olympics. And she can do it again. She starts 18 and I think she can pull a similar miracle to Jansrud did today. Move up to about 10, win the second and get on the podium. She can do it, I have seen her do much tougher things than that on a race hill. Lindsey, on the other hand, has always struggled with GS on the World Cup level. So much so that we praise her when she gets a top 10. And I think again that is what she is headed for. The hill will favor her, but she needs to take some risk and make a shorter turn shape to have a chance.

Schleper starts 23 and has a great season coming back from a ton of time off for injury and maternity leave, so to speak. Now she travels with her family and is a very happy woman. She also is skiing well again. When I saw her in December she was not that happy with her performance to that point but she somehow pulled it together. If she keeps her focus on clean initiations and can feel it, she can make a charge for the podium. She is extremely competitive and is out here for a reason. Doing it because she loves it. She has other options, and this one is her best one. She has a chance, for sure.

Megan McJames starts 27: To me, she is one of the USA girls I always point to as someone who gets it. Someone who knows how to ski technically correctly. It is always just a matter of timing and aggression with her. If she is aggressive and has good timing in her switches at the same time, she can get the job done. I am a big fan of MICK JAMES!

Others: I think a sneaky pick on this hill could be Chemmy Alcott(GBR). It is a pretty flat hill and when she gets things going the right way early in a run, she can pull a lot of momentum all the way down. I like Jessica Lindell-Vikarby(SWE) for exactly the same reason as Chemmy.

One last thing: Keep an eye on Maria-Jose Rienda of Spain. She has been tremendously successful over her career and is on her last legs. She is likely done after this race. But she is the best Spanish GS skier ever and the most successful World Cup racer for her country since Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa. She starts 33. She is the winner of 6 World Cup GS races and has 11 podiums in her career. It’s time to give her some love. She is the best ever from Spain, one of the nicest people you will ever meet and I root for her every week. Buena suerte, Maria!
My Podium: Hoelzl, Worley, Brignone…Whew, that’s a tough one. I think Denise could get in there…

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Greg “Grande” Needell grew up ski racing
at Stratton Mountain, Vermont. After graduating from SMS he skied for NCAA Division 1 St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he was co-captain in 1986. Greg returned to SMS to coach there for five years serving as the Head Women’s Coach as well as the Head J2 Men’s Coach. He then moved to Mission Ridge in Wenatchee, Washington in 1992 to become the Program Director and Head Coach of the Mission Ridge Ski Club. In 1997, Greg became the Head Coach at Mammoth Mountain, California.

In 2002 Needell was asked to join the U.S. Ski Team staff as a World Cup SL and GS coach. From 2002 to 2008 Needell helped lead the U.S. Ski Team Men to 43 wins, 105 podiums and 264 top ten finishes. Now at the helm of Alpine Race Consulting, Needell offers his knowledge and experience to clubs nationwide.

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