Bormio: Walchhofer repeats, Fill 2nd, Miller 4th

Peter Fill was poised to grab World Cup win No. 1 on home soil. Austria's Michael Walchhofer was poised for more of his own thunder.
    For the second straight day on the tricky Stelvio course, Austria's Walchhofer emerged from the No. 30 start position Friday to win a World Cup downhill. Fill had to settle for second, while Austrian Mario Scheiber took third for the second straight day. Walchhofer's late ride pushed American Bode Miller off the podium into fourth.
    Miller had a .54-second lead at the final interval but lost tons of time at the bottom, as did Fritz Strobl and Marco Buechel.
    Didier Cuche was fifth, Aksel Lund Svindal sixth and Buechel seventh. American Marco Sullivan finished tied for 12th, with Steven Nyman 21st, Scott Macartney 33rd and Justin Johnson 50th.

BORMIO, Italy — Peter Fill was poised to grab World Cup win No. 1 on home soil. Austria's Michael Walchhofer was poised for more of his own thunder.
    For the second straight day on the tricky Stelvio course, Austria's Walchhofer emerged from the No. 30 start position Friday to win a World Cup downhill. Fill had to settle for second, while Austrian Mario Scheiber took third for the second straight day. Walchhofer's late ride pushed American Bode Miller off the podium into fourth.
    Miller had a .54-second lead at the final interval but lost tons of time at the bottom after a major bobble and recovery. Fritz Strobl and Marco Buechel also were strong before losing time on the finish stretch.
    Walchhofer is the first racer to win two downhills in two days in Bormio. ''It was a fantastic two days. Now I can start the new year with a lot of confidence,'' Walchhofer said. "Yesterday's win was very important. Today is a little bit different. It's good to make history.''
    Didier Cuche was fifth to retain his lead atop the downhill standings, Aksel Lund Svindal was sixth and Buechel seventh. American Marco Sullivan finished tied for 12th, with Steven Nyman 21st, Scott Macartney 33rd and Justin Johnson 50th.
    Walchhofer had a near-perfect run but lost time on the bottom portion of the course, where Fill was superb. Miller was also much faster than Fill at the final split, but couldn't keep it going. ''Bode just looked tired,'' Nyman said.
    After 13 straight races without a win, the Austrian men are now on a winning streak as the men's tour heads to Adelboden, Switzerland. The win was career No. 11 for Walchhofer, 31, the defending World Cup downhill champion. Eight of his wins have come in downhill. It was his fourth career podium at Bormio, all in downhill, with two firsts and two seconds. The tall Austrian earned the bronze medal in the 2005 DH at World Championships at Bormio. Austrians have won 11 of the 18 World Cup downhills held on the Stelvio.
    Fill had been second twice and third three times. Friday, four Italians placed in the top 12 in front of the home fans.
    Walchhofer won in 1 minute, 51.82 seconds, with Fill .22 back and Scheiber .27 back. Thursday, Walchhofer won in 1:51.90, just .01 ahead of runner-up Cuche.
    Frenchman Antoine Deneriaz, the 2006 Olympic downhill champ, did not start the race after saying he will sit three weeks out to recover from a right knee injury and an overall dismal start to the 2006-07 season. He intends on returning for races at Chamonix in January but will sit out the classic Wengen races. Deneriaz was 40th in Thursday's downhill and has not scored in the discipline this season.
    "I have already had some dry spells in my career," he said, "but this one, it's beginning to feel long."

Miller just off the line
    "I felt I skied well but I struggled a little with my line entering that last pitch," Miller said, explaining the loss of time at the bottom of the 3-kilometer course.
    "Nice bounce-back from [Thursday]," DH head coach Chris Brigham said, referring to the first of the two downhills when Sullivan was the top American, finishing 13th. "Bode skied well but said he was off-line a little on that final pitch, and on that last section, if you're off, it can really cost you."
    He said conditions remained "fantastic — Bormio really did a good job in preparing the track. This time of year, the top of the course is in and out of the light and then at the bottom it's lights out [dark shadows]. The hill's difficult enough and then the light makes it quite a challenge … but Mickey [Walchhofer] and Scheiber, who've been struggling, skied well.
    "It was a super-tight race, typical Bormio. It was men's World Cup racing at its best again with one guy a little out front and then guys stacked up tight behind him. Steven was 21st but he was only  — what? — a second, one-point-two out. That's tight.
    "Bode skied well all the way down … until that bottom section. Marco's finding his groove and confidence again, so that's kind of a bonus, and Steven's only in his second year on the World Cup, and this was his second time in Bormio. He's got great speed and he's learning  …he's getting it figured out," Brigham said.

Walchhofer back in it
    Walchhofer won two downhills in two days in the German resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January 2005. He said before the race Friday that he was thinking about it in the gondola while riding up to the start. “I know what it takes to win twice in a row,” he said. “You have to remain very focused and not try something special. 
    “It’s important to ski normally and be confident. I heard that I became the first skier to win two double downhills, this is of course very special to me. I’m pretty proud of my performance today, it was sort of easier because I trust myself more at the start. In fact, I felt fast and well-balanced from the first meter. I didn’t need to take too many risks at the bottom.”
    After a tough start to the season, he’s now back in the hunt for the downhill crystal globe. “It’s strange how fast things can change,” he said. “I was nervous and under pressure as the rest of the team before yesterday’s race and now I’m suddenly back at the top. If someone had told me that coming here I would have said they were just crazy.”
    Fill reached his sixth podium this year – his second in downhill within a month. The Italian perfectly nailed the bottom part, skiing .35 faster than Walchhofer. “I’m glad but also surprised because I don’t feel so well
this morning, I guess I caught a cold,” he said afterward. “I didn’t think I could be again on the podium today. It’s a great result for me because this course is so demanding and it’s great skiing in front of my fans. I remain patient and I hope to be healthy next month. I’m looking forward competing in the January Classics, which are pretty exciting too.”
    Scheiber confirmed his potential with his third top-three finish in a month, but the rest of the Austrian team is struggling. Hans Grugger, a former winner at Bormio, was only 16^th. Tied with teammate Klaus Kroell, and Fritz Strobl was 18th. Hermann Maier finished a distant 28^th without making major mistakes. He lost ground on the winners from the first to last gate.
    The men are off until Jan. 6-7 in Adelboden, Switzerland, with a giant slalom and slalom. After 16 races, Svindal leads with 579 points to Miller's 540. Ted Ligety, who did not race in Bormio, is tied for ninth overall (with defending overall champion Benjamin Raich of Austria) and Nyman is 12th.

— Patrick Lang, The Associated Press and USSA contributed to this report

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THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's downhill, Bormio, Italy, Dec. 29, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
3 Scheiber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
5 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
6 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
8 Staudacher, Head/Head/Tyrolia
9 Jerman, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Kernen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men's downhill, Bormio, Italy, Dec. 29, 2006. … It is the 16th of the men's 38-event World Cup schedule. … The fifth of 11 scheduled downhills. … It is the second of back-to-back DHs at Bormio due to a cancellation.
    It is the 11th career victory for Michael Walchhofer, his eighth in DH. … His second win of the season and second in two days. … And the second time he has won both ends of back-to-back DHs, having previously achieved the feat at Garmisch Feb. 18-19, 2005. … He is the first Austrian male to win two races this season. … He joins Luc Alphand (March 15, 1995, and Dec. 29, 1996), Hermann Maier (Dec. 29, 1997, and Dec. 29, 1998) and Daron Rahlves (Dec. 29, 2002, and Dec. 29 2005) as two-time winners on the Stelvio course.
    It is the sixth career podium for Peter Fill and third of the season. … It is his third career podium in DH, but his best career DH finish. … He has not yet won a race in any discipline but holds podiums in DH, SG and combined. … He owns half of all Italian podiums this season.
    It is the sixth career podium for Mario Scheiber. … Fourth in DH. … It is his third podium of the season (second in DH) and second in two days, having also been third Dec. 28.
    It is the 65th career top four for Bode Miller. … His 13th in DH. … It is his career-best result at Bormio in DH, bettering a fifth place from 2002. … Four of his six scoring results at Bormio have occurred on Dec. 29. … It is the fourth-best career placing for Marco Sullivan and one better than his result Dec. 28. … He has been in the top 13 of his past four DHs and is now 11th in the DH standings. … It is the 26th career top 15 for Erik Guay. … His fifth of the season. … It is his second best DH result of the season after placing 10th Dec. 28. … It is the sixth best of nine career World Cup DH scoring results for Steven Nyman and is his best result at Bormio, bettering his 26th place result of Dec. 29, 2005.
    Aksel Lund Svindal (sixth in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 579-540 over Bode Miller. … Didier Cuche (fifth in race) holds third at 535. … Cuche leads the downhill standings over Michael Walchhofer 330-286. … Marco Buechel (seventh in race) slips to third at 248. … Steven Nyman is the top American on the DH list in fifth with 184 points. … Miller is seventh at 170. … Winning margin is .22 of a second. … Top 13 skiers are within a second. … Top 32 within two seconds. … Austrian men lead the Nations Cup 2545-1556 over Switzerland with Italy third at 1512 and the USA fourth at 1319.

Bormio men's World Cup downhill No. 2 results

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	30	50041	WALCHHOFER Michael	1975	AUT	1:51.82	0.00
2	23	292455	FILL Peter	1982	ITA	1:52.04	2.66
3	22	51005	SCHEIBER Mario	1983	AUT	1:52.09	3.26
4	27	532431	MILLER Bode	1977	USA	1:52.21	4.71
5	26	510030	CUCHE Didier	1974	SUI	1:52.32	6.04
6	19	421328	SVINDAL Aksel Lund	1982	NOR	1:52.36	6.52
7	29	350032	BUECHEL Marco	1971	LIE	1:52.43	7.36
8	6	290998	STAUDACHER Patrick	1980	ITA	1:52.55	8.81
9	10	560332	JERMAN Andrej	1978	SLO	1:52.65	10.02
10	24	510478	KERNEN Bruno	1972	SUI	1:52.66	10.14
11	9	291641	SULZENBACHER Kurt	1976	ITA	1:52.74	11.11
12	11	533131	SULLIVAN Marco	1980	USA	1:52.78	11.59
12	1	291389	FISCHNALLER Roland	1975	ITA	1:52.78	11.59
14	14	510767	HOFFMANN Ambrosi	1977	SUI	1:52.84	12.31
15	18	102263	GUAY Erik	1981	CAN	1:52.86	12.56
16	20	50753	KROELL Klaus	1980	AUT	1:52.93	13.40
16	16	50833	GRUGGER Hans	1981	AUT	1:52.93	13.40
18	28	50182	STROBL Fritz	1972	AUT	1:52.96	13.76
18	13	50695	BUDER Andreas	1979	AUT	1:52.96	13.76
20	7	510747	GRUENENFELDER Tobias	1977	SUI	1:52.97	13.88
21	21	533866	NYMAN Steven	1982	USA	1:53.02	14.49
22	17	510727	DEFAGO Didier	1977	SUI	1:53.07	15.09
23	8	191591	BERTRAND Yannick	1980	FRA	1:53.25	17.26
24	15	50451	GRUBER Christoph	1976	AUT	1:53.41	19.20
25	4	191116	DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel	1977	FRA	1:53.43	19.44
26	31	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	1:53.45	19.68
27	2	201606	KEPPLER Stephan	1983	GER	1:53.53	20.64
28	25	50423	MAIER Hermann	1972	AUT	1:53.54	20.77
29	40	191415	BOTTOLLIER-LASQUIN Marc	1979	FRA	1:53.62	21.73
30	34	500150	JAERBYN Patrik	1969	SWE	1:53.70	22.70
31	3	220228	MICKEL Finlay	1977	GBR	1:53.76	23.42
32	38	293006	INNERHOFER Christof	1984	ITA	1:53.78	23.66
33	5	532490	MACARTNEY Scott	1978	USA	1:53.87	24.75
34	33	291399	GIRARDI Walter	1976	ITA&nbs p;	1:53.89	24.99
35	45	510969	BONETTI Michael	1982	SUI	1:53.96	25.84
36	35	50858	STREITBERGER Georg	1981	AUT	1:54.11	27.65
37	50	102271	HUDEC Jan	1981	CAN	1:54.14	28.01
38	36	561067	PERKO Rok	1985	SLO	1:54.15	28.13
39	51	191911	NOCENTI Cyril	1982	FRA	1:54.53	32.72
40	42	201439	STEHLE Johannes	1981	GER	1:54.54	32.84
41	32	192746	THEAUX Adrien	1984	FRA	1:54.63	33.93
42	46	293141	VARETTONI Silvano	1984	ITA	1:54.67	34.41
43	48	510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	1:54.72	35.01
44	39	291116	FATTORI Alessandro	1973	ITA	1:54.74	35.25
45	52	510307	BRAND Olivier	1980	SUI	1:55.08	39.36
46	41	501076	OLSSON Hans	1984	SWE	1:55.27	41.65
47	53	101375	LAVOIE Vincent	1977	CAN	1:55.28	41.77
48	47	510498	ZUEGER Cornel	1981	SUI	1:55.43	43.58
49	49	103512	FRISCH Jeffrey	1984	CAN	1:55.73	47.21
50	37	532173	JOHNSON Justin J	1977	USA	1:55.77	47.69
51	54	292784	SENONER Lucas	1983	ITA	1:56.04	50.95

 

Did not start 1st run:
GARNIER Thibault (FRA), DENERIAZ Antoine (FRA)

Did not finish 1st run:
CLAREY Johan (FRA)

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World Cup downhill standings (after 5 races)
1. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 330.
2. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 286.
3. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 248.
4. Peter Fill, Italy, 222.
5. Steven Nyman, United States, 184.
6. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 171.
7. Bode Miller, United States, 170.
8. Andrej Jerman, Slovenia, 130.
9. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canada, 129.
10. Fritz Strobl, Austria, 126.

World Cup overall standings (after 16 races)
1. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 579 points.
2. Bode Miller, United States, 540.
3. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 535.
4. Peter Fill, Italy, 458.
5. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 340.
6. Marco Buechel, Lietchtenstein, 313.
7. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 299.
8. Kalle Palander, Finland, 287.
9. Ted Ligety, United States, 278.
(tie) Benjamin Raich, Austria, 278.
11. Hermann Maier, Austria, 271.
12. Steven Nyman, United States, 260.
13. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 254.
14. John Kucera, Canada, 253.
15. Rainer Schoenfelder, Austria, 209.