Kvitfjell: Streitberger snags win, Bode second

Austria's Georg Streitberger collected his first World Cup win and kept Bode Miller from winning two straight races in World Cup super G action Sunday at Kvitfjell, Norway.
    Streitberger's previous best result had been a sixth place SG result at Val Gardena in December 2006, and he had just three top 10 results this season, including a ninth at Kvitfjell in downhill Saturday.
    Miller, the winner of the downhill Saturday, was second by two tenths of a second and continued to apply pressure to the two men chasing him for the World Cup's grand prize, the crystal globe signifying the overall championship. Didier Cuche, the Swiss closest behind Miller, did his best to keep pace by finishing third. Benjamin Raich, the defending champion with a history of better results in slalom and GS, finished 16th. Raich will need to move up the point standings next weekend in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, where the Cup racers will contest races in his favored disciplines.

Austria's Georg Streitberger collected his first World Cup win and kept Bode Miller from winning two straight races in World Cup super G action Sunday at Kvitfjell, Norway.
    Streitberger's previous best result had been a sixth place SG result at Val Gardena in December 2006, and he had just three top 10 results this season, including a ninth at Kvitfjell in downhill Saturday.
    Miller, the winner of the downhill Saturday, was second by two tenths of a second and continued to apply pressure to the two men chasing him for the World Cup's grand prize, the crystal globe signifying the overall championship. Didier Cuche, the Swiss closest behind Miller, did his best to keep pace by finishing third. Benjamin Raich, the defending champion with a history of better results in slalom and GS, finished 16th. Raich will need to move up the point standings next weekend in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, where the Cup racers will contest races in his favored disciplines.
    The Canadians had another solid, but headline-less, day with two skiers in the top 10 and another in 14th. Leading the way was tour rookie Robbie Dixon in a tie for fourth, a career-best showing. Erik Guay tied for seventh and Francois Bourque was 14th. John Kucera and Manuel Osborne-Paradis tied for 19th.
    Top placing for the U.S. Ski Team, minus the independent Miller, was Marco Sullivan one spot in back of Raich in 17th. Steven Nyman finished 24th.
    Streitberger could hardly believe his victory. "I have a hard time believing I'm winning this race," he said. "I felt comfortable on my skis today and achieved a solid run yet I didn't expect to win this race today as I never reached a podium so far. It was very difficult waiting in the finish area and looking at top favorites coming down the slope. I'm for sure very proud to be ahead of two great specialists as Bode Miller and Didier Cuche. I think I had a very consistent run, especially at the bottom, I did not make a mistake. It's for sure a dream to win a World Cup race, I've had a lots of ups and downs in my career."
    With a win in the downhill Saturday and two second-place finishes, Miller was feeling he had performed pretty well.
    "It has been a pretty good weekend even though I left 40 points behind, but I think I made the best of those three races. I didn't ski so well in the first downhill because I didn't know the course well enough to approach my limits. The second downhill went fine. I was lucky that other skiers also made mistakes and today I skied all right. I make a big mistake in that turn up there so this podium finish is OK."
    Miller was particularly pleased to be strong so late in a long, difficult season. "I am happy to see that my form is so good at this period of the season. It's the result of my new organization and my fitness bus which allows me to remain in good shape throughout the season. It was good to have been able to do things this winter on my own way."
    Cuche, who slipped 20 points further back from Miller, was also content with his placing. "I'm pleased with my podium finish today because I made again a stupid mistake in the upper part of my run," Cuche said. "I could have finished way behind today after that error so it's a good day for me especially looking at the super G World Cup standings. I have now a strong lead on my toughest rivals after that race, yet when you see the terrible crash of Mathias Lanzinger you can understand that it's easy to make mistakes so I wait the Finals at Bormio before thinking about my chances to clinch that title."
    The race was delayed about a half hour while medical personnel attended to Mathias Lanzinger who crashed hard on the lower portion of the course. Initial reports indicated a severe knee injury and concussion.
   "That was horrible to see," Miller said. "It's the tough part of our sport. A tiny mistake is enough to get in trouble and I feel sorry for Matthias who is a young and a fine skier who has been trying hard the entire season."
    Cuche also expressed sympathy and added, "The most important remains to be healthy at the end of a race. Fortunately I feel in good shape for the moment and I'm looking forward for the next giant slalom at Kranjska Gora. Bode Miller is very strong but I rather focus on my own program and try to do my best at each race."
    — Patrick Lang contributed

The SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment

Men's super G, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 2, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Streitberger, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
3 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
4 Hoffmann, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
4 Dixon, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
9 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Gruber, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
 
Men's super G, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 2, 2008. … It is the 35th race of the men's 41 race 2008 World Cup schedule. … It is the sixth of seven scheduled super G's. … the fourth held outside of Europe. … It is the 34th World Cup race held at Kvifjell and the 12th super G.
    It is the first career World Cup win for Georg Streitberger. … His previous best result had been sixth in SG at Val Gardena Dec. 15, 2006. … He has 24 scoring results to his record with seven of those now in the top 10. … He was ninth twice previously this season, both times in DH, at Lake Louise and at Kvitfjell Saturday. … He is the sixth different SG winner in six men's races this season.
    It is the 64th career World Cup podium for Bode Miller. … His 11th of the season and third of the long weekend. … It is the eighth Cup SG podium for Miller and second of the season having also placed second at Val Gardena Dec. 14.
    It is the 42nd career World Cup podium for Didier Cuche. … His 12th of the season. … It is his 16th career podium in SG, and the third time he has placed third in a SG at Kvitfjell. …
It is his second podium of the weekend. … It 20 career placing finishes at Kvitfjell, Cuche has been on the podium six times and in the top 10 16 times.
    It is a career best placing for Robbie Dixon overtaking the sixth he scored at Kitzbuehel's SG Jan. 18. … All five of his scoring results have come this season. … It is the second time in two days Erik Guay has finished seventh, matching his 20th best career result. … He has four better results this season, three of them in SG. … Francois Bourque matches his 10th best career SG result, but his third best at Kvitfjell. … It is his third best SG result of the season, but only by one placing. … It is the seventh best of eight scoring results this season for Marco Sullivan. … John Kucera matches his 16th best of 19 scoring results this season. … It is the seventh best of 11 scoring results this season for Manuel Osborne-Paradis, but his top career SG result. … It is the eighth scoring result of the season for Steven Nyman.
    Winning margin is .20 of a second. … Top eight were within a half second. … Top 17 within a second. … Top 31 skiers within two seconds over the 2,574meter course. … Miller expands his lead in the overall standings to 185pts and leads 1363-1178 over Didier Cuche. … Benjamin Raich (16th in race) is third overall with 1073. … Fourth place is Ivica Kostelic (31st in race) with 699pts. … Cuche leads the super G standings by 89pts, 340-251 over Christoph Gruber (10th in race). … Hannes Reichelt (15th in race) is third at 241 and Raich fourth at 236. … Canadian Erik Guay is the top North American in seventh with 200, Miller is eighth with 189. … Austria leads the men's Nations Cup 6199-3572 for Switzerland. … Italy is third at 3155 and the U.S. fourth at 2915.

Official timekeeper

Did not start 1st run : ERICSSON Daniel (SWE)
Did not finish 1st run : PELLINEN Jouni (FIN), SINE Gareth (CAN), STEHLE Johannes (GER), GLEBOV Alek (SLO), ALSTER Christoph (AUT), LANZINGER Matthias (AUT), STAUDACHER Patrick (ITA)