Kitzbuehel: First training run completed

Michael Walchhofer claimed the first training run held at Kitzbuehel and by a significant margin, topping Swiss Didier Cuche by .82 of a second. Bode Miller was in a third place tie with Austrian Christoph Gruber 1.40 back. Hermann Maier and Ambrosi Hoffman locked up for a fifth place tie 1.42 back.Michael Walchhofer claimed the first training run held at Kitzbuehel and by a significant margin, topping Swiss Didier Cuche by .82 of a second. Bode Miller was in a third place tie with Austrian Christoph Gruber 1.40 back. Hermann Maier and Ambrosi Hoffman locked up for a fifth place tie 1.42 back.

Marco Sullivan, fresh off the podium at Wengen, posted tenth and TJ Lanning was 14th. Andrew Weibrecht finished 20th and Ted Ligety 22nd. It was a tough go for the Canadians. Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay were disqualified and Robbie Dixon and Jan Hudec declined to start. John Kucera, in 35th, was the only Canadian finisher.

But don’t read too much into the training results. A spotty fog caused numerous delays and many racers were standing up through the middle of the course. From the Hausberg jump down it remained relatively clear and skiers hammered that section, but coaches won’t be looking at the overall times to determine how they did.

The first day of training was canceled by snowfall, which will make for a smoother track than last season when several skiers were injured. In 2008 Andrea Buder and Ondrej Bank broke legs, forerunner Patrick Hinterseer broke vertebrae and Scott Macartney sustained “severe head trauma” in crashes either in training or while racing.

The injuries of the past only add to the myth and legend of the great Streif downhill track, Kitzbuehel in general and the Hahnenkamm downhill. With a team loaded with first time Streif racers, the bulk of the U.S. squad was just happy to get to the finish.

Sullivan did what he could to help out his less experienced teammates and he’s just finished twice in four visits.

“It’s scary, it’s intimidating because of all the stories and how famous the course is,” he says. “Once you get past the mental part, the top is really tough, the bottom is tough and the rest of it. … not so bad. But, you have to find out by yourself. It is always so scary the first time because of what you’ve heard and seen in the past.”

He hung with the less experienced teammate though inspection, but like he said, you still have to ski it your self.

Andrew Weibrecht said, “I’m really happy to be here (in the finish area) and have that first run behind me. I was really terrified in the start. But to make it down and get some base time in… It’s not all that its hyped to be.”

But ask about the Mausfalle in particular and he responds, “Oh my God. I think that’s the most intimidating part of the whole course. You’ve got no time to see if you are skiing well or making good turns. You just have to go down a 60-degree pitch and make two quick turns.”

TJ Lanning said the course was very intimidating in inspection. “Oh, man what a blast.. But standing in the start your heart is beating faster than any course I’ve ever done. I ran 29th after about six stop-starts, a 15 minute hold, 20 minute hold. I just wanted to get it over with and they kept yanking me around.”

Erik Fisher had his own take. “It’s pretty sketchy like everybody says, and it’s good to make it down the first time. For sure it lives up to the reputation.

“The hardest part is you get a little break in the middle and you have to get pumped back up getting into the traverse. I came in not driving for it like I should have been and almost went into the fence, missed it by about a foot… lotta fun.”

Kevin Francis said being at the bottom, letting it all sink in, was an incredible sensation. “It was particularly tiring up top, but more than that it’s just sinking in. I made it down the first run. The turns onto the road up top were particularly difficult, … but then the sidehill wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

Best news of the week is that the fresh snow that cancelled the first trainer has taken a lot of the roughness off the course that caused so many injuries last season.

“I had the luxury with there being so much snow of it being quite a bit different – I think –  of what I’ve seen in the past where its  bumpy on top and bumpy on the sidehill,” said Lanning. “It’s icy, but it’s smooth, so I’m really psyched.”

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Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time
1	16	50041	WALCHHOFER Michael	1975	AUT	1:59.68
2	12	510030	CUCHE Didier	1974	SUI	2:00.50
3	25	50451	GRUBER Christoph	1976	AUT	2:01.08
3	14	532431	MILLER Bode	1977	USA	2:01.08
5	24	50423	MAIER Hermann	1972	AUT	2:01.10
5	9	510767	HOFFMANN Ambrosi	1977	SUI	2:01.10
7	11	50753	KROELL Klaus	1980	AUT	2:01.33
8	30	191116	DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel	1977	FRA	2:01.34
9	15	421328	SVINDAL Aksel Lund	1982	NOR	2:01.53
10	10	533131	SULLIVAN Marco	1980	USA	2:01.78
11	28	50858	STREITBERGER Georg	1981	AUT	2:01.90
12	49	380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	2:02.14
13	35	500150	JAERBYN Patrik	1969	SWE	2:02.20
14	29	534567	LANNING T.J.	1984	USA	2:02.27
15	4	191964	POISSON David	1982	FRA	2:02.67
16	41	292291	THANEI Stefan	1981	ITA	2:02.74
17	31	380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	2:02.84
18	32	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	2:03.19
19	46	560447	SPORN Andrej	1981	SLO	2:03.28
20	54	530939	WEIBRECHT Andrew	1986	USA	2:03.37
20	21	292514	HEEL Werner	1982	ITA	2:03.37
22	34	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	2:03.40
23	20	293006	INNERHOFER Christof	1984	ITA	2:03.45
24	36	510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	2:03.51
25	3	191591	BERTRAND Yannick	1980	FRA	2:03.52
26	43	290998	STAUDACHER Patrick	1980	ITA	2:03.72
27	47	293550	MARSAGLIA Matteo	1985	ITA	2:03.82
28	57	533842	FRANCIS Kevin	1982	USA	2:03.87
29	37	201606	KEPPLER Stephan	1983	GER	2:04.14
30	38	50761	ALSTER Christoph	1980	AUT	2:04.41
31	6	192746	THEAUX Adrien	1984	FRA	2:04.47
32	27	51215	BAUMANN Romed	1986	AUT	2:04.48
33	55	201987	STRODL Andreas	1987	GER	2:04.54
34	40	192932	FAYED Guillermo	1985	FRA	2:04.87
34	26	102873	KUCERA John	1984	CAN	2:04.87
36	44	533098	FRIEDMAN Bryon	1980	USA	2:05.03
37	22	560332	JERMAN Andrej	1978	SLO	2:05.23
38	60	292831	PIERUZ Aronne	1983	ITA	2:05.37
39	1	501076	OLSSON Hans	1984	SWE	2:05.80
40	59	291399	GIRARDI Walter	1976	ITA	2:05.87
41	58	560406	GORZA Ales	1980	SLO	2:07.23
42	52	292756	PENASA Massimo	1983	ITA	2:07.35
43	61	480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS	2:07.39
44	23	511313	JANKA Carlo	1986	SUI	2:07.44

Did not start 1st run: REICHELT Hannes (AUT), DIXON Robbie (CAN), HUDEC Jan (CAN)

Did not finish 1st run: NYMAN Steven (USA), FILL Peter (ITA)

Disqualified 1st run: BUECHEL Marco (LIE), GLEBOV Alek (SLO), PUCHNER Joachim (AUT), ALBRECHT Daniel (SUI), DEFAGO Didier (SUI), STRUGER Peter (AUT), GUAY Erik (CAN), GRUENENFELDER Tobias (SUI), OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel (CAN), PERKO Rok (SLO), FISHER Erik (USA), STRODL Peter (GER)