Kvitfjell: Bode claims win, moves in on two titles

KVITFJELL, Norway – Bode Miller brought his skiing to a new level and perhaps buried Benjamin Raich’s chances in the run for the overall title by winning the downhill here Saturday. The win moved him within five points of the downhill title and added to his overall lead as Raich missed a gate.
    Skiing on a wet, softer course than yesterday, Miller was as much as .64  in the lead through the first third of the twisting Kvitfjell course including over Didier Cuche,  who leads the downhill race by a scant five points.
    European announcers could not say enough about Miller’s talent, calling him “brilliant,” and “in a class by himself.”
    The race was delayed for an hour due to fog just below the Tommy Moe S turns and just above the compression turn on the bottom third of the course. The section claimed both Steve Nyman and Marco Sullivan who went into the nets. Neither seemed injured and skied down to the finish.

KVITFJELL, Norway — Bode Miller brought his skiing to a new level and perhaps buried Benjamin Raich’s chances in the run for the overall title by winning the downhill here Saturday. The win moved him within five points of the downhill title and added to his overall lead as Raich missed a gate.
    Skiing on a wet, softer course than yesterday, Miller was as much as 0.64  in the lead through the first third of the twisting Kvitfjell course including over Didier Cuche, who leads the downhill race by a scant five points.
    European announcers could not say enough about Miller’s talent, calling him “brilliant,” and “in a class by himself.”
    The race was delayed for an hour due to fog just below the Tommy Moe S turns and just above the compression turn on the bottom third of the course. The section claimed both Steve Nyman and Marco Sullivan who went into the nets. Neither seemed injured and skied down to the finish.
    Werner Heel, the winner of yesterday’s make-up race from Val d”Isere, took the lead earlier in the race, skiing cleanly and demonstrating that he had the track wired in. So to did Austrian Klaus Kroell who finished in fourth spot.
    Manny Osborne-Paradis, starting 22nd, put in a solid run until the bottom of the compression where he went slightly wide. With the soft snow, it was just enough of an error to keep him off the podium in fifth place.
    Rising temperatures and humidity made the snow trickier for the racers as the wetness created more suction on the skis. This made Miller’s run even more extraordinary as he carried considerably more speed throughout his run, leaving all his competitors behind.
    Visibility was also a concern. There was a fog bank going into the compression for the early runners, which included Raich. The fog lifted slightly for racers wearing bib 9 through bib 25, but came back again later in the race. Racers starting beyond the top thirty had to deal with fading light as well.
    Miller said a little time on the course was all he had needed. "I was able to push harder today than yesterday because I knew the course much better after yesterday's race. There was a huge difference between my training run the other day and my race. I need miles on a course to be able to get to my limits. I made a few mistakes yet I kept pushing all the time and it paid off."
    He said he was excited to be in the hunt for both the overall and downhill crowns. "It's a great feeling to win such a big race. Next week at Kranjska Gora, Raich certainly will score lots of points and also Didier Cuche in giant slalom so I had to do well today. It's exciting to fight for the downhill cup which I still can win. I feel really confident and in good shape too, so I'm looking forward for a great Finals at Bormio where I already did well in past years. I'm still not counting points as there are still seven races left. I'll just try my best as usual. I'm for sure having fun this season."
    Miller's coach John McBride said he was feeling pretty good after the race. "That downhill globe is a little closer and definitely within his reach," McBride said. "I think he put together a great run. He cleaned up some areas from yesterday's performance but I don't know if it was a whole other level. Didier [Cuche] had some trouble up at the top. It could have been a whole lot closer than it was."
    Cuche confirmed McBride's assessment. "I did a big mistake in the upper part of the course before the big jump," he said. "I knew it would be tough to win the race [after that]. I was able to remain focused and aggressive at the bottom, but … it was possible to ski that course faster. It's good to be on the podium, but Miller is now very close to me in the downhill standings. The Finals will, for sure, be very special."
    Canadian coach Paul Kristofic was pleased with efforts of his squad considering the conditions. "Over 10cm of snow fell here in Norway. There was a lot of work to do to remove the snow but the course workers did a phenomenal job,” Kristofic said."It was another solid day for Manny with a second consecutive top five. Erik [Guay] skied much better today as well, with more aggression, and it is really good to see Robbie [Dixon] scoring points because it’s tough to do from where he started."

— Patrick Lang and Alpine Canada contributed.

The SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's Downhill, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 1, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
3 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Kroell, Salomon/Nordica/Salomon
5 Osborne-Paradis, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
7 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Streitberger, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
 
Men's downhill, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 1, 2008. … It is the 34th race of the men's 41 race 2008, World Cup schedule. … It is the ninth of ten scheduled downhills. … It is the 33rd World Cup race held at Kvitfjell, the 17th downhill and the fifth back-to-back downhill.
    It is the 31st career win for Bode Miller, moving him past Benjamin Raich on the all-time win list into sole possession of sixth (among men) behind Pirmin Zurbriggen. … It is his seventh career World Cup downhill win. … It is his sixth win of the season. … And third in DH. … It is the 185 U.S. World Cup win. … It is the fifth U.S. World Cup win at Kvitfjell. …
    It is the 41st career World Cup podium for Didier Cuche. … His 19th in DH. … It is his 11th podium of the season. … His sixth in DH. … It is his fifth World Cup podium at Kvitfjell and third in DH.
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p;   It is the second career World Cup podium for Werner Heel and the second in two days having won Friday. … Three of his top four results have come at Kvitfjell.
    Manuel Osborne-Paradis matches his fifth best career finish. … It is his second best of the weekend having placed fourth in the Friday DH. … Erik Guay matches his 20th best career result. … It is his third best result at Kvitfjell having placed second in DH March 10, 2005 and sixth in SG March 6, 2005. … It is the worst scoring placing of the season for John Kucera. … It is the fourth career scoring result for Robbie Dixon, all from this season.
    Winning margin is .40. … Top six are within the same second… Top 16 within two seconds. … Miller extends his lead for the overall World Cup standings to 1283-1118 over Didier Cuche (2nd in race) who passes Benjamin Raich (DNF) at 1058. … Cuche hold on to the DH standings lead 584-579 for Miller with one DH remaining on the schedule. … Michael Walchhofer (6th in race) is third at 407 and Marco Sullivan (DNF) fourth at 278.

Official timekeeper

Did not start 1st run : ZAHROBSKY Petr (CZE), NOCENTI Cyril (FRA), SULZENBACHER Kurt (ITA)
Did not finish 1st run : HOFER Beni (SUI), EISATH Florian (ITA), GRUENENFELDER Tobias (SUI), SULLIVAN Marco (USA), BUECHEL Marco (LIE), NYMAN Steven (USA), HOFFMANN Ambrosi (SUI), RAICH Benjamin (AUT)