Garmisch: Frenchmen pace men's DH training

Feb 22, 2007

Two Frenchmen led training Thursday for a pair of World Cup men's downhills as the tour resumes following the break for World Championships.


GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Two Frenchmen led training Thursday for a pair of World Cup men's downhills as the tour resumes following the break for World Championships.
    France's Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin covered the 3,455-meter Kandahar course, one of the most challenging on the circuit, in 1 minute, 56.97 seconds. Yannick Bertrand was second in 1:57.40.  
    Fritz Strobl was the best of the five Austrians among the top 10, finishing third in 1:57.47.
    Friday's race will replace a downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria, that had to be called off in January because of bad weather. Another downhill is slated for Saturday and a slalom is set for Sunday.
    With this southern German resort basking in sunshine and nearly springlike temperatures, the normally icy course held up surprisingly well — at least for the first 40 racers or so. Later, the conditions were not as good. Organizers had to truck in 2,000 tons of snow from Austria.
    ''There is more snow on the course than I'd thought,'' said world champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who had the 14th fastest time. ''It's not one of my favorite courses but I am looking forward to the race. I am not feeling any extra pressure because of the world title.''
    Friday's race will be the first since the World Championships ended on Sunday.
    If the Kandahar course is not one of Svindal's favorite runs, it certainly is for Hermann Maier, who won his first World Cup race — a super-G — in Garmisch-Partenkirchen 10 years ago. The Austrian star's last World Cup win, his 53rd, was also on the course in last year's downhill.
    "There are very few hills that I don't like, but this one is really special,'' Maier said.
    Maier finished 12th in Thursday's practice, despite having frostbite on his big left toe.
    ''It surely is not making me any faster,'' Maier said. ''The course is in a very good shape. I am going into the race with a positive feeling, especially since I won here last year.''
    Bode Miller, who did not medal at the World Championships, was 26th in practice, 2 1/2 seconds off the pace.
    Scott Macartney was the fastest American in 20th.
    The men race a downhill Friday that replaces the Kitzbühel downhill, another downhill Saturday and a slalom Sunday.


Garmisch men's World Cup downhill training results
OFFICIAL RESULTS – FIRST TRAINING

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
 1  5  191116 DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel  1977  FRA   1:56.97  
 2  7  191591 BERTRAND Yannick  1980  FRA   1:57.40  
 3  14  50182 STROBL Fritz  1972  AUT   1:57.47  
 4  2  50833 GRUGGER Hans  1981  AUT   1:57.52  
 5  29  50041 WALCHHOFER Michael  1975  AUT   1:57.67  
 5  18  510030 CUCHE Didier  1974  SUI   1:57.67  
 7  16  102263 GUAY Erik  1981  CAN   1:57.73  
 8  13  510767 HOFFMANN Ambrosi  1977  SUI   1:57.76  
 9  15  350032 BUECHEL Marco  1971  LIE   1:57.80  
 10  25  50451 GRUBER Christoph  1976  AUT   1:57.82  
 10  8  510727 DEFAGO Didier  1977  SUI   1:57.82  
 12  20  50423 MAIER Hermann  1972  AUT   1:57.98  
 13  23  51005 SCHEIBER Mario  1983  AUT   1:58.08  
 14  12  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund  1982  NOR   1:58.09  
 15  19  510747 GRUENENFELDER Tobias  1977  SUI   1:58.11  
 16  26  290998 STAUDACHER Patrick  1980  ITA   1:58.27  
 17  30  560332 JERMAN Andrej  1978  SLO   1:58.28  
 18  9  50753 KROELL Klaus  1980  AUT   1:58.61  
 19  22  292455 FILL Peter  1982  ITA   1:58.81  
 20  28  532490 MACARTNEY Scott  1978  USA   1:58.82  
 21  24  500150 JAERBYN Patrik  1969  SWE   1:58.84  
 22  27  50695 BUDER Andreas  1979  AUT   1:58.90  
 23  41  560447 SPORN Andrej  1981  SLO   1:58.94  
 24  33  192746 THEAUX Adrien  1984  FRA   1:59.04  
 25  47  510165 HOFER Beni  1978  SUI   1:59.27  
 26  6  532431 MILLER Bode  1977  USA   1:59.28  
 27  4  291641 SULZENBACHER Kurt  1976  ITA   1:59.33  
 28  10  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel  1984  CAN   1:59.59  
 29  37  191415 BOTTOLLIER-LASQUIN Marc  1979  FRA   1:59.60  
 30  38  561067 PERKO Rok  1985  SLO   1:59.64  
 30  17  533866 NYMAN Steven  1982  USA   1:59.64  
 32  11  510478 KERNEN Bruno  1972  SUI   1:59.67  
 33  34  291399 GIRARDI Walter  1976  ITA   1:59.73  
 34  21  533131 SULLIVAN Marco  1980  USA   1:59.98  
 35  35  191740 CLAREY Johan  1981  FRA   1:59.99  
 36  42  102873 KUCERA John  1984  CAN   2:00.03  
 37  57  50742 REICHELT Hannes  1980  AUT   2:00.09  
 38  43  291116 FATTORI Alessandro  1973  ITA   2:
00.19
 
 39  36  50858 STREITBERGER Georg  1981  AUT   2:00.20  
 40  46  510207 HARI Konrad  1978  SUI   2:00.31  
 41  39  201606 KEPPLER Stephan  1983  GER   2:00.36  
 42  1  102271 HUDEC Jan  1981  CAN   2:00.41  
 43  52  201439 STEHLE Johannes  1981  GER   2:00.47  
 44  31  510890 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan  1981  SUI   2:00.53  
 45  49  191964 POISSON David  1982  FRA   2:00.59  
 46  53  510969 BONETTI Michael  1982  SUI   2:00.94  
 47  32  102814 BOURQUE Francois  1984  CAN   2:01.02  
 48  44  292514 HEEL Werner  1982  ITA   2:01.05  
 49  50  293141 VARETTONI Silvano  1984  ITA   2:01.06  
 50  40  532173 JOHNSON Justin J  1977  USA   2:01.35  
 51  51  501076 OLSSON Hans  1984  SWE   2:01.36  
 52  48  420911 SOLBAKKEN Bjarne  1977  NOR   2:01.49  
 53  54  501026 RAINER Niklas  1983  SWE   2:01.58  
 54  45  534939 FISHER Erik  1985  USA   2:01.78  
 55  56  292056 GUFLER Michael  1979  ITA   2:02.12  
 56  61  201725 WOELFL Mathias  1984  GER   2:03.09  
 57  60  202059 FERSTL Josef  1988  GER   2:03.35  
 58  55  50831 GRAGGABER Thomas  1981  AUT   2:03.72  
 59  59  201987 STRODL Andreas  1987  GER   5:22.56  

About the Author: Pete Rugh

Related Post

Nothing Found