Kitzbühel: Cuche wins Hahnenkamm DH crown

KITZBÜHEL, Austria — Didier Cuche won a men's World Cup downhill race on Saturday to go to the top of the overall rankings.
    The 33-year-old Swiss raced down the 3,212-meter Streif course in 1 minute, 52.75 seconds for his fourth downhill win and eighth overall victory.
    Bode Miller, who had a strong finish after losing time in the upper part, and Mario Scheiber shared second, trailing Cuche by 0.27 seconds.
    "In general it’s always good to be second, especially here," Miller said. "It feels great, but the skiing wasn’t what I was hoping for."
    Michael Walchhofer was fourth and Hermann Maier fifth, while Marco Sullivan was 0.70 behind to take sixth.
    Benjamin Raich trailed Cuche by 1.81 seconds to finish 14th and lose his lead in the overall standings.
    ''I was a bit cautious from the start, but after that, I can't tell you. I was in a trance,'' said Cuche, who was third in Friday's super G and had his first World Cup win 10 years ago in Kitzbuehel.

KITZBUEHEL, Austria — Didier Cuche won a men's World Cup downhill race on Saturday to go top of the overall rankings.
    The 33-year-old Swiss raced down the 3,212-meter Streif course in 1 minute, 52.75 seconds for his fourth downhill win and eighth overall victory.
    Bode Miller, who had a strong finish after losing time in the upper part, and Mario Scheiber shared second, trailing Cuche by 0.27 seconds.
    "In general it’s always good to be second, especially here," Miller said. "It feels great, but the skiing wasn’t what I was hoping for."   
    Michael Walchhofer was fourth and Hermann Maier fifth, while Marco Sullivan was 0.70 behind to take sixth.
    Benjamin Raich trailed Cuche by 1.81 seconds to finish 14th and lose his lead in the overall standings.
    ''I was a bit cautious from the start, but after that, I can't tell you. I was in a trance,'' said Cuche, who was third in Friday's super G and had his first World Cup win 10 years ago in Kitzbühel.
    “I have the feeling to be in a dream, I don’t remember my run so well but I know I gave my best from top to bottom,” Cuche said on Austrian TV after the race. Cuche was third in Friday's super G and had his first World Cup win at Kitzbühel 10 years ago.    “I have been looking for a long time for such a run here. I felt confident after yesterday’s podium finish in the super G and my promising training runs earlier this week. I just like this challenging course so much, it just perfectly suits my style and my love for aggressive skiing. It was not possible to achieve a perfect run today because of the difficult course conditions but I fought all the time and it paid off at the end.”
    Scheiber had his second podium finish in two days after taking third in Friday's super-G race.
    ''This is incredible after two weeks off with injuries,'' Scheiber said. ''Only Cuche was faster, that's nothing to be ashamed of. My first victory will be just a question of time.''

Miller praises Cuche
"I have said it a lot of different times about Didier, he is an incredibly well-balanced downhiller. I said it before he switched to Head, that it was frustrating for me to see him go through his career without winning downhill titles, super G titles, even being in the chase for GS titles," Miller said.
    "On the big turns he is as technically sound as anybody, on the gliding he is as fast as anybody except maybe Walchhofer, and in the air he’s better than everybody else in the World Cup. You put those things together, you’d expect to see someone winning all the time. And now that he’s on the best skis out there, he’s as tough as anybody. I just need to keep off the fence and I’ll give him a run or his money."

Miller: Bad management through the Steilhang
Miller criticized organizers Wednesday for poorly preparing the Streif course. The American posted only the 10th time in the bumpy first section as he raced offcourse on one ski — and just avoided crashing into the gates — but he accelerated for a very fast lower part.
    Miller described his trouble through that turn.   
    "That turn [Steilhang] is a real key to the flats, because you’re on the flats for 30 seconds after that. I made a great turn around the Steilhang, and would have come out onto the road with a very high speed. I accelerated through the turn exactly how I wanted to, but when I went off the last little roll, the light was kind of flat, and I couldn’t really see my landing, but there’s a pretty big bump at the end of that turn and it just kicked me a little bit outside. And I was leaning the wrong way, and I had to decide if I was going to hit the fence with my upper body or my skis.
    "So as I went on it with one ski, it immediately started to catch really bad, and decelerated and would have pulled me headfirst into the fence, so I had to balance to make it. It’s sort of the thing I am always trying to do, trying to not hurt myself out there, and I had to get my other foot on the fence too. The plastic from the fence melts onto your skis. I slowed down a lot just on the fence, but it ruins your skis for the rest of the run.
    "It’s bad management right there, an operational error on my part. I continued to push after that. Sometimes you gotta make the best mistakes."

Macartney crash hits teammates hard   
The race was interrupted for half an hour after a crash by America's Scott Macartney, the second racer out on the course, who lost balance at the final jump before the finish and smashed his head on the snow. 
    Dr. Charles Rich, U.S. Team Ski Team neurosurgeon who accompanied Macartney from the mountain to the hospital in Innsbruck, said Saturday night Macartney had a very good prognosis. He suffered a severe concussion and will remain in the hospital for further observaton, the doctor said.
    “My head wasn’t really in it after seeing Macartney," Sullivan said. "I was in the lodge, and I couldn’t really shake that image. He’s one of my best buddies, and to see him totally unconscious 20 minutes before you have to go…”
    Just then, France's Pierre Emmanuel Dalcin crashed hard and Sullivan saw it on the screen. “It’s Kitzbühel.”
    “I am happy with my result and everything but my heart wasn’t really in it today. My thoughts go out to Scott and I hope he’s gonna hang in there,” Sullivan continued.
    “It was one of the hardest times I’ve ever had just being in the starting gate. I had no idea how he was. He was convulsing on the hill, you saw it. I hear he’s ok now, though. It was really hard to refocus. I had thoughts of just getting on the gondola and going back down, you know? All things considered, it was a good run and I’m happy with it, but you think of the bigger things in life than just ski racing when you see something like that.”
    Miller said he felt a bit unfocused early in his run and he couldn't pinpoint why. But Macartney's crash apparently was on his mind
.     
    "I can say that I did push hard, but the way that I came out of the start all the way down to the exit of the Steilhang, my head wasn’t really in it. Until I made that really crappy turn on the carousel and bounced really low, that kind of woke me up," he said. "Whether it was Macartney or whatever, it seemed like I wasn’t really involved."
    Steven Nyman was disappointed with his 2.02-second deficit to Cuche.
    "I wasn’t charging. I was scared," he said. "I saw Mac’s crash at the start, and I just felt sick. You just question the jump at the bottom. I saw it in inspection, and they messed with it, and it just didn’t look right. They tried trimming it down, but they kind of put a lip right before it. It just wasn’t smooth."
    Nyman said he had a difficult time finding that extra gear Saturday.  
    "I’m getting experience here. I felt like I was skiing well, I was over my boards, but I just didn’t have that charge factor that I wanted," he said. "You can see the difference. Bode definitely didn’t ski clean and was super-fast. There’s a gear that you seek and just the ability to push harder. And I think that that makes up for so much more time than just skiing well."
    Erik Guay was the best Canadian, finishing ninth, 1.14 seconds behind Cuche.
    ''Only the top 3 really counts, but I am still happy as I had a solid run,'' Guay said. ''The course is very hard. It was my fifth time here and I keep learning all the time.''
    Cuche extended his lead in the World Cup downhill standings and now leads Miller, who climbed to second after two straight wins, by 21 points.
    Because of strong winds, organizers lowered the start some 100 meters down the hill.
    The Hahnenkamm event concludes with a slalom race on Sunday.

    — Jack Shaw contributed to this report

---

The SCOOP

By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men's Downhill, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 19, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Scheiber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Maier, Head/Head/Head
6 Sullivan, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
8 Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
9 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
 
Men's Downhill, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 19, 2008 … It is the 22nd of 41 races on the men's 2008 World Cup schedule. … The sixth of ten scheduled downhills. … It is the first traditional race of the 78th annual Hahenkamm. … It is the 48th World Cup downhill held at Kitzbuehel.
    It is the eighth career World Cup win for Didier Cuche. … His fourth in downhill. … It is his second win at Kitzbuehel having won a two run sprint downhill Jan. 23, 1998. … He was second in the traditional race the next day to Kristian Ghedina. … It is Cuche's second win of the season after the Val Gardena SG Dec. 14, but he has been on eight podiums this season in 15 races.
    It is the 58th career World Cup podium for Bode Miller. … His fifth this season. … It is his best result in a downhill at Kitzbuehel, the pervious best a fourth Jan. 21, 2006.
    It is the second tie for a podium in two days for Mario Scheiber having also been deadlocked for third in the super G. … It is his sixth career second place result. … and third in downhill. … He has never won a World Cup race. Michael Walchhofer was one hundredth from matching for second place.
    Marco Sullivan matches his third best career World Cup placing, all in DH. … He was second at Lake Louise Nov. 24 this season, fourth at Val Gardena Dec. 16, 2006 and sixth at Beaver Creek Dec. 7, 2002. … He has downhill results this season of second, sixth, seventh at Wengen and 12th at Bormio. … It is the fifth best result of the season for Erik Guay. … It is his 25th career top 10 placing. … It is his second best result in the Kitzbuehel DH having placed fifth Jan. 21, 2006. … It is the first scoring finish in the Kitzbeuehl downhill for John Kucera. … He matches his third best career DH result. … All four of his best DH results have come this season. … It is the 21st top 20 placing for Steven Nyman's career and is his best DH result at Kitzbuehel. … He was 26th in 2006. … It is the first DH result for Manuel Osborne-Paradis at Kitzbuehel. … It is his 13th top 20 career DH result.
    Winning margin is .27 of a second. … Top eight are within a second. … Top 17 within two seconds. … Cuche leads the overall standings 765-744 over Benjamin Raich (14th in race). … Miller is third at 713. … Cuche also leads the downhill standings 384-363 over Miller. … Michael Walchhofer (fourth in race) is third at 330. … Marco Sullivan is sixth in DH standings with 178pts.

---

 

< td class="ir_20" align="right" style="padding-right: 7px"> 12

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	19	510030	CUCHE Didier	1974	SUI	1:52.75	0.00
2	16	532431	MILLER Bode	1977	USA	1:53.02	3.23
2	4	51005	SCHEIBER Mario	1983	AUT	1:53.02	3.23
4	20	50041	WALCHHOFER Michael	1975	AUT	1:53.03	3.35
5	11	50423	MAIER Hermann	1972	AUT	1:53.36	7.30
6	15	533131	SULLIVAN Marco	1980	USA	1:53.45	8.38
7	14	510727	DEFAGO Didier	1977	SUI	1:53.46	8.50
8	17	350032	BUECHEL Marco	1971	LIE	1:53.55	9.58
9	21	102263	GUAY Erik	1981	CAN	1:53.89	13.65
10	18	292455	FILL Peter	1982	ITA	1:53.90	13.77
11	9	50451	GRUBER Christoph	1976	AUT	1:54.02	15.21
12	7	292514	HEEL Werner	1982	ITA	1:54.06	15.69
13	1	102873	KUCERA John	1984	CAN	1:54.30	18.56
14	3	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	1:54.56	21.67
15	22	560332	JERMAN Andrej	1978	SLO	1:54.63	22.51
16	25	50753	KROELL Klaus	1980	AUT	1:54.70	23.35
17	13	510767	HOFFMANN Ambrosi	1977	SUI	1:54.73	23.71
18	38	380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	1:54.76	24.07
19	533866	NYMAN Steven	1982	USA	1:54.77	24.19
20	10	102899	OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel	1984	CAN	1:54.91	25.86
21	6	290998	STAUDACHER Patrick	1980	ITA	1:55.07	27.78
22	35	191964	POISSON David	1982	FRA	1:55.31	30.65
23	40	510165	HOFER Beni	1978	SUI	1:55.35	31.13
24	39	510498	ZUEGER Cornel	1981	SUI	1:55.40	31.73
25	5	191415	BOTTOLLIER-LASQUIN Marc	1979	FRA	1:55.43	32.09
26	23	192746	THEAUX Adrien	1984	FRA	1:55.46	32.45
26	8	291641	SULZENBACHER Kurt	1976	ITA	1:55.46	32.45
28	28	191591	BERTRAND Yannick	1980	FRA	1:55.67	34.96
29	44	380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	1:55.71	35.44
30	48	201606	KEPPLER Stephan	1983	GER	1:55.75	35.92
31	27	50858	STREITBERGER Georg	1981	AUT	1:55.81	36.64
32	29	191740	CLAREY Johan	1981	FRA	1:55.84	37.00
33	2	532490	MACARTNEY Scott	1978	USA	1:55.91	37.84
34	46	510207	HARI Konrad	1978	SUI	1:56.00	38.91
35	56	50547	SCHOENFELDER Rainer	1977	AUT	1:56.06	39.63
36	24	510747	GRUENENFELDER Tobias	1977	SUI	1:56.18	41.07
37	34	51215	BAUMANN Romed	1986	AUT	1:56.20	41.31
38	59	40171	BRANCH Craig	1977	AUS	1:56.26	42.03
39	49	293006	INNERHOFER Christof	1984	ITA	1:56.32	42.75
40	51	293141	VARETTONI Silvano	1984	ITA	1:56.41	43.82
41	47	291389	FISCHNALLER Roland	1975	ITA	1:56.44	44.18
42	58	420911	SOLBAKKEN Bjarne	1977	NOR	1:56.47	44.54
43	32	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	1:56.71	47.41
44	36	292967	EISATH Florian	1984	ITA	1:56.99	50.77
45	55	292056	GUFLER Michael	1979	ITA	1:57.10	52.08
46	41	102814	BOURQUE Francois	1984	CAN	1:57.46	56.39
47	33	560447	SPORN Andrej	1981	SLO	1:57.68	59.03
48	45	191462	PAQUIN Pierre	1979	FRA	1:57.92	61.90
49	42	192932	FAYED Guillermo	1985	FRA	1:57.95	62.26
50	60	102727	STUTZ Paul	1983	CAN	1:58.33	66.81
51	54	501026	RAINER Niklas	1983	SWE	1:58.53	69.21
52	53	561006	GLEBOV Alek	1983	SLO	1:58.62	70.28
53	52	102947	SINE Gareth	1985	CAN	1:58.68	71.00
54	61	480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS	1:59.52	81.06
55	57	292150	HAPPACHER Alex	1979	ITA	2:00.18	88.96

Did not finish 1st run: STEHLE Johannes (GER), GIRARDI Walter (ITA), OLSSON Hans (SWE), ALBRECHT Daniel (SUI), DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel (FRA)

Disqualified 1st run: NOCENTI Cyril (FRA)