Bode to take a break from the tour

Following a lack-luster performance at the World Championships in Val d’Isere, France, American ski racer Bode Miller has decided to take a break from the Word Cup tour. 
Last year’s overall champion will miss GS and super combined races in Sestriere, Italy, next weekend and rejoin the tour in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Feb. 28. Sestriere was the site of his disappointing performance in the 2006 Winter Games, when critics claimed his partying hurt Miller’s shot at a medal.
“I wanted a break and I want some warm weather,” Miller told The Associated Press after the last of his three unfinished race at the championships. The New Hampshire native hasn’t won a race all year and gone three major championships without a medal. His best finish in Val d’Isere was an eighth place in the downhill.

“With the way the season has gone he needs to rest the ankle. His mind needs a rest, too,” Forest Carey, Miller’s personal coach, told the AP. “We’ve been planning this for a while.” Miller plans to go home to New Hampshire for the break.

News of the mid-season hiatus has added fuel to the rumors that the 31-year-old will retire from racing at the end of the season. “That’s a different issue,” Carey said. “Bode will address that at the end of the season.”
Miller’s chances of reclaiming the overall title look bleak as he currently stands in eight place, 225 points behind leader, Croatian Ivca Kostelic. Miller was obviously discouraged with his DNF in the final race of the championships – a slalom – as he stood to the side of the course and watched several racers go by.
“It’s the same as my career. The results are disappointing, the skiing wasn’t,” Miller said. “I skied hard the whole time. I showed that I have speed. I showed that I’m not afraid to go out and race hard. Those are things that I feel are important, but at the end of the day you need to execute and get to the finish line and that obviously was a problem for me here.”
Information and quotes from the AP’s Andrew Dampf.

Following a lack-luster performance at the World Championships in Val d’Isere, France, American ski racer Bode Miller has decided to take a break from the Word Cup tour. 

Last year’s overall champion will miss GS and super combined races in Sestriere, Italy, next weekend and rejoin the tour in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Feb. 28. Sestriere was the site of his disappointing performance in the 2006 Winter Games, when critics claimed his partying hurt Miller’s shot at a medal.

“I wanted a break and I want some warm weather,” Miller told The Associated Press after the last of his three unfinished race at the championships. The New Hampshire native hasn’t won a race all year and gone three major championships without a medal. His best finish in Val d’Isere was an eighth place in the downhill.

“With the way the season has gone he needs to rest the ankle. His mind needs a rest, too,” Forest Carey, Miller’s personal coach, told the AP. “We’ve been planning this for a while.” Miller plans to go home to New Hampshire for the break.

News of the mid-season hiatus has added fuel to the rumors that the 31-year-old will retire from racing at the end of the season. “That’s a different issue,” Carey said. “Bode will address that at the end of the season.”

Miller’s chances of reclaiming the overall title look bleak as he currently stands in eight place, 225 points behind leader, Croatian Ivca Kostelic. Miller was obviously discouraged with his DNF in the final race of the championships – a slalom – as he stood to the side of the course and watched several racers go by.

“It’s the same as my career. The results are disappointing, the skiing wasn’t,” Miller said. “I skied hard the whole time. I showed that I have speed. I showed that I’m not afraid to go out and race hard. Those are things that I feel are important, but at the end of the day you need to execute and get to the finish line and that obviously was a problem for me here.”

Information and quotes from the AP’s Andrew Dampf.