Kitzbuehel: Kroell wins SG, Weibrecht 11th

Klaus Kroell grabbed the Hahnenkamm super G win for the hosts as the most famous set of races on the World Cup tour opened at Kitzbuehel, Austria.

It was the first career World Cup win for Kroell and he is better regarded as a downhill racer, but he added another Austrian SG win to the pages of Hahnenkamm history, making it eight of ten for the home crowd in super G’s on Kitzbuehel’s Streif track.

Kroell edged Aksel Svindal for the win by .22 of a second in a close race that saw the top 18 racers all come within a second of Kroell’s time of 1 minute, 12.78 seconds.

The Swiss put up a good show with Ambrosi Hoffmann third, Didier Cuche fourth and Wengen DH winner Didier Defago sixth.Klaus Kroell grabbed the Hahnenkamm super G win for the hosts as the most famous set of races on the World Cup tour opened at Kitzbuehel, Austria.

It was the first career World Cup win for Kroell and he is better regarded as a downhill racer, but he added another Austrian SG win to the pages of Hahnenkamm history, making it eight of ten for the home crowd in super G’s on Kitzbuehel’s Streif track.

Kroell edged Aksel Svindal for the win by .22 of a second in a close race that saw the top 18 racers all come within a second of Kroell’s time of 1 minute, 12.78 seconds.

The Swiss put up a good show for a fallen comrad with Ambrosi Hoffmann third, Didier Cuche fourth and Wengen DH winner Didier Defago sixth.

It was an unexpected sort of result for the U.S. The big star, Bode Miller finished in a tie for 21st and the newest star, Marco Sullivan tallied 16th. The man of the hour was Andrew Weibrecht, in his first race on the fabled Streif course.  Half a month shy of his 23rd birthday he had just two training runs at Kitzbuehel to his name, but roared from the 48th start position to post 11th on the day.

“I was just hoping for a top 30,” Weibrecht said. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw 11.”

“I finally got one in there,” he added, “I had been close in super G. … I’ve had some good splits and then one bad one. It’s been a struggle so it’s nice to throw one in there.”

Considering the closeness of the race (the top 18 were all within the same second) the result was even more remarkable. He finished ahead of Hermann Maier, a winner of the Kitzbuehel super G five times.

Now Weibrecht is really excited about skiing tomorrow’s downhill. He said he’s only got to stick to the game plan and not let the reputation of Kitzbuehel get to him and he should be alright.

“I’m starting to be use to it a little bit,” the course rookie said. “The scare level comes from the name and the reputation, but really it’s just another hill. ,,, a little bumpier and icier, but you’ve got to treat it like any other. I’m going to take as much confidence out of this as I can and just try to execute.”

For Kroell the win was cleansing. He competed against doctors wishes with a broken hand sustained in a fall at Wengen last week, but it would have taken something way more severe to make him miss racing Kitzbuehel.

“Winning in Kitzbeuhel is so special,” Kroell told AP.  “It’s almost as big as winning the world championships. … Doctors advised me not to race to prevent possible further damage, but I was able to go to the limit,” Kroell said.

It was a relatively short SG, but Kroell was clocked over 63mph on his run with his ski pole taped to his hand.

For Svindal, who hadn’t recorded a podium finish since his gallant return to Beaver Creek in early December, it was a scary ride.  He told reporters he took more risks than he is accustomed to and that it nearly cost him.  “I lost balance on my left ski but fortunately the wind pushed me in the right direction so I could correct that,” said the 2007 World Cup overall champ.

Hoffmann’s confidence seems to be at an all time high. “I was fourth at Wengen last week and now third,” he told reporters. “And these are the biggest races on the circuit.”

The Swiss were determined to score a good result on behalf of Daniel Albrecht, hospitalized in an induced coma after a training run crash yesterday.

“You have to be a pro and concentrate on the job,” Didier Cuche told Reuters. “Daniel would want us to fight and do our best.” 

Cuche finished fourth on the day.

Sullivan said the course was very difficulty to make up time on and pointed out where he had trouble. “The top half of the course is pretty mellow and the snow is getting grippy, …  a lot of tucking. Then you come over Hausberg  and all of a sudden it’s pretty icy right there and it gets steep and it’s a big fall away. If you’re not on your toes it just eats you up and I think a lotta guys were lulled a little bit. I think that’s what happened to me.”

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The SCOOP

Equipment
Men’s super G, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 23, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Kroell, Salomon/Nordica/Salomon
2 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Hoffmann, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
4 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
5 Fill, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
7 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Jerman, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
10 Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia

Men’s super G, Kitzbuehel, Austria., Jan. 23, 2009 … It is the opening race of the four race 69th annual Hahnenkamm weekend. … It is the 21st race of the men’s 38 race 2009 World Cup schedule. … It is the fourth of six scheduled super G’s. … It is the 129th World Cup race held – at least in part – at Kitzbuehel. … It is the tenth Cup super G at Kitzbuehel. … Half of them – coming into today’s race – had been won by Hermann Maier.

It is the first career World Cup win for Klaus Kroell. … He has three second and one third place finishes, all in downhill. … His previous best in super G had been fifth, at Kitzbuehel in 2006. … It is the eighth time in ten super G’s at Kitzbuehel an Austrian has won. … His best previous SG result this season had been 11th at Val Gardena.

It is the 20th career World Cup podium for Aksel Svindal. … His sixth in super G. … It matches his best recorded Cup placing at Kitzbuehel, having also placed second in combined in 2003. … It is his fourth Cup podium of the season and first since getting three at Beaver Creek in early December.

It is the fifth career Cup podium for Ambrosi Hoffmann. … his second in super G. …He has yet to win a Cup race. … It is his second podium at Kitzbuehel having placed third in DH in 2004. … Didier Cuche is the only other Swiss to score a SG podium at Kitzbuehel. … It is his first podium of the season after placing fourth in SG at Val Gardena and in DH at Wengen.

It is the second best career World Cup placing for Andrew Weibrecht, after a 10th in DH at Beaver Creek Nov. 30, 2007. … It is his first super G scoring result in Cup competition. … He started 48th and was the only skier starting outside the top seed (30) to make the final top 10. … It is his fourth score of the season. … Marco Sullivan matches his 23rd best career Cup score. … His sixth best SG score. … And his third best career score all disciplines at Kitzbuehel. … It is the sixth best of eight scoring results this season for Sullivan. … John Kucera matches his 35th best career Cup result. … His 13th best in SG. … It is his fifth scoring result at Kitzbuehel and his second best in SG after a fifth last season. … It is Kucera’s fifth best of nine scoring results this season. … It is the fifth scoring result in SG at Kitzbuehel for Bode Miller. … It is his 10th best of 11 scoring results this season. …  It is the 11th career Cup scoring result for Robbie Dixon and his second best in SG at Kitzbuehel having placed sixth in SG in 2008. … It is his fourth best of six scoring results this season. … It is just the third career World Cup SG scoring result for Ted Ligety. … the second of the season.

Andrej Jerman scores the first SG top 10 at Kitzbuehel for Slovenia. It is an extremely close race. The entire group of 30 finishers was within 1.5 seconds. … 18 skiers were within the same second.

Benjamin Raich (DNF in race) holds onto the lead of the World Cup overall standings 638-598 over Aksel Svindal. … Jean-Baptiste Grange (did not race) is third at 576 and Ivica Kostelic (20th in race) fourth at 557. … Bode Miller is the top American on the overall list at 10th with 395. … Hermann Maier (12th in race) maintains the lead in the SG standings 231-212 over Svindal. … Didier Defago (sixth in race) is third at 210 and Werner Heel (fifth in race)  fourth at 156. … Canadian John Kucera is the top North American in sixth with 138. … Marco Sullivan the top U.S. skier in 10th at 114pts.

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Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	26	50753	KROELL Klaus	1980	AUT	1:12.78	0.00
2	20	421328	SVINDAL Aksel Lund	1982	NOR	1:13.00	3.20
3	14	510767	HOFFMANN Ambrosi	1977	SUI	1:13.17	5.68
4	21	510030	CUCHE Didier	1974	SUI	1:13.21	6.26
5	5	292455	FILL Peter	1982	ITA	1:13.33	8.01
6	19	510727	DEFAGO Didier	1977	SUI	1:13.34	8.16
7	24	293006	INNERHOFER Christof	1984	ITA	1:13.36	8.45
8	12	292514	HEEL Werner	1982	ITA	1:13.39	8.88
9	27	560332	JERMAN Andrej	1978	SLO	1:13.47	10.05
10	8	350032	BUECHEL Marco	1971	LIE	1:13.48	10.20
11	48	530939	WEIBRECHT Andrew	1986	USA	1:13.49	10.34
12	17	50423	MAIER Hermann	1972	AUT	1:13.50	10.49
13	32	510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	1:13.57	11.51
13	30	290998	STAUDACHER Patrick	1980	ITA	1:13.57	11.51
15	10	50041	WALCHHOFER Michael	1975	AUT	1:13.59	11.80
16	4	533131	SULLIVAN Marco	1980	USA	1:13.63	12.38
17	15	50858	STREITBERGER Georg	1981	AUT	1:13.65	12.67
18	28	510747	GRUENENFELDER Tobias	1977	SUI	1:13.70	13.40
19	18	102873	KUCERA John	1984	CAN	1:13.78	14.56
20	1	380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	1:13.83	15.29
21	36	50761	ALSTER Christoph	1980	AUT	1:13.86	15.73
21	13	532431	MILLER Bode	1977	USA	1:13.86	15.73
23	2	102961	DIXON Robbie	1985	CAN	1:13.93	16.75
24	57	201987	STRODL Andreas	1987	GER	1:13.98	17.48
25	25	560406	GORZA Ales	1980	SLO	1:14.08	18.93
26	35	292831	PIERUZ Aronne	1983	ITA	1:14.13	19.66
27	44	291399	GIRARDI Walter	1976	ITA	1:14.15	19.95
28	37	561067	PERKO Rok	1985	SLO	1:14.21	20.83
29	23	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	1:14.26	21.56
30	46	150421	ZAHROBSKY Petr	1980	CZE	1:14.27	21.70
31	47	191591	BERTRAND Yannick	1980	FRA	1:14.36	23.01
32	41	201542	STRODL Peter	1982	GER	1:14.40	23.59
33	9	50451	GRUBER Christoph	1976	AUT	1:14.41	23.74
34	40	191116	DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel	1977	FRA	1:14.51	25.20
35	39	292291	THANEI Stefan	1981	ITA	1:14.61	26.65
36	42	534939	FISHER Erik	1985	USA	1:14.77	28.98
37	3	500150	JAERBYN Patrik	1969	SWE	1:14.86	30.29
38	56	380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	1:14.99	32.19
39	33	561006	GLEBOV Alek	1983	SLO	1:15.02	32.62
40	43	191964	POISSON David	1982	FRA	1:15.08	33.50
41	50	292756	PENASA Massimo	1983	ITA	1:15.26	36.12
42	52	421400	MYHRE Lars Elton	1984	NOR	1:15.38	37.87
43	58	501026	RAINER Niklas	1983	SWE	1:15.60	41.07
44	59	480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS	1:16.33	51.70
45	60	150495	VRABLIK Martin	1982	CZE	1:18.41	82.00

Did not start 1st run: OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel (CAN), FRANCIS Kevin (USA)

Did not finish 1st run: KEPPLER Stephan (GER), JANKA Carlo (SUI), BRAND Olivier (SUI), HUDEC Jan (CAN), GUAY Erik (CAN), GOERGL Stephan (AUT), THEAUX Adrien (FRA), MARSAGLIA Matteo (ITA), LANNING T.J. (USA), FRIEDMAN Bryon (USA), RAICH Benjamin (AUT), REICHELT Hannes (AUT)

Disqualified 1st run: SPORN Andrej (SLO)