Svindal makes it 100 for Norway with victory in Val Gardena

By Published On: December 20th, 2013Comments Off on Svindal makes it 100 for Norway with victory in Val Gardena
Svindal in action on the Saslong (GEPA/Wolfgang Grebien)

Svindal in action on the Saslong (GEPA/Wolfgang Grebien)

A designer would be hard-pressed to create a better super G skier than Aksel Lund Svindal. The iconic Norwegian became the first of the season to win two super Gs as he claimed Val Gardena’s opening race Friday. It was his 24th career World Cup win and the 100th for Norwegian men. It was his third win of the season and the second in super G as he ardently defends the title from last year. It was also his third SG win at Val Gardena, a site record.

The numbers will say it really wasn’t a contest. Canadian Jan Hudec, with a picture perfect run, was 0.58 seconds back in second place. Third went to Frenchman Adrien Theaux, 0.91 out. Kjetil Jansrud, in fourth, was more than a second off the winning pace. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. This was a competitive race throughout the day, with the difficulty of the Saslong — lacking in snow to accentuate the abundance of terrain, bumps and ruggedness of the historic track — causing all kinds of problems for the best ski racers in the world.

“It’s confirmation that I’ve been doing the right things and just going with it and being patient. I knew my time in the sport wasn’t up and I wouldn’t have carried on skiing if I didn’t believe I could do this,” said Hudec. “I feel pretty blessed that I got to be the first guy on the podium this year but it’s just a matter of time before Erik and Manny (Osborne-Paradis) are there, too. We have a great history here and there’s no reason we can’t do something special in the downhill tomorrow.”

Bode Miller, the second starter on the day as fog socked in the top reaches (eight to 10 gates) of the track, pinched off some turns and took the early lead. Romed Baumann pushed him back first before Hudec and Theaux. He finished in eighth to lead the U.S. group. Ted Ligety never got untracked, exiting the course while still in the fog. Travis Ganong, starting 41, was the second finishing American in 16th place, easily his personal best in the discipline.

The runner-up placing for Hudec was also a personal best, matching his best finish in super G from Crans Montana, Switzerland, in 2012. Hudec held the lead for most of his run, hammering some smooth, compact turns and never appearing any less than in complete control. But right at the bottom of the course, a direction change and compression made making the final gate a challenge Hudec just pulled off.

“I’m stoked I was able to ski the way I wanted to ski,” said Hudec. “I finally have no pain and that gives me great confidence to push hard and ski to my full potential.”

And, he said, “I avoided mistakes.”

Miller said he had been lucky enough to get away with the same thing that caused some others to ski off course: “Everyone is just pushing too hard. You’re seeing guys going too straight and blowing out of the course because they’re looking for speed where there isn’t any. That was a bit of what I did. I just got away with it.”

“It was a challenge in the sense that it was actually a really easy set,” said Men’s Head Coach Sasha Rearick, “so in order to do well you had to go as hard as possible, and because you were going as hard as possible and there were a lot of blind rolls creating a high potential for DNFs.”

With Bode running two on that course, and because you have to go as hard as possible and they only had four forerunners, we had to adjust course report as bib one was going down. And of course for the very last little bit Bode was in the gate so we couldn’t give him that last part. But Bode is building. He’s skiing well. I was really stoked to see him skiing those conditions with bad visibility and at the same time put it down the hill with confidence.

“Travis did a good job with the start number he had today,” Rearick said. “He went from having not scored any World Cup points in super G last season to coming down with a 16th place with good skiing from top to bottom.”

Peter Fill had worked his way into the lead, carving his way out of trouble several times before he, too, got caught by the final gate. Unlike Hudec, Fill crashed through the gate for a disqualification. More importantly, he sprawled to the ground in the finish area and clutched at his back, an indicator he may have sustained some injury.

The Saslong claimed other big names as well. Matteo Marsaglia, Klaus Kroell, Ted Ligety, Patrick Kueng, Hannes Reichelt, and Manuel Osborne-Paradis, were among potential winners who either failed to finish or were disqualified. None appeared to sustain serious injury.

“Unbeatable is not the way I see me,” said Svindal. “I want to be in the World Cup through to the end. The races then are much more exciting. I have to be strong, but you also must be clever, make a good plan and have the courage to implement this plan.”

Andrew Weibrecht skied to 21st, and Erik Fisher got 28th. Erik Guay was sixth, and Swede Hans Olsson, returning from injury, moved from bib 55 into 15th.

 

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

Men’s World Cup super G, Val Gardena/Groeden, Italy, Dec. 20,2013

Equipment

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Svindal, Head/Head/Head

2 Hudec, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

3 Theaux, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

4 Jansrud, Head/Head/Head

5 Baumann, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker

6 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

7 Streitberger, Head/Head/Head

8 Miller, Head/Head/Head

9 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

10 Puchner, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Men’s World Cup super G, Val Gardena/Groeden, Italy, Dec. 20,2013.

It is the tenth of 34 races on the men’ 2013-14 World Cup schedule. … The third of six scheduled super G’s. … It is the 74th World Cup event held at least in part at Val Gardena, the 12th super G. … Defending SG champion Aksel Lund Svindal is the only man to have won two super G’s at the site, (Dec. 2009 and Dec. 2012.) Organizers report it is the 46th Saslong Classic.

It is the 24th career World Cup win for Aksel Lund Svindal. … His 12th in super G (second all time among men behind Hermann Maier’s 24). … It is his third win of the season and second in super G. He is the first man to win three Val Gardena super G’s. No one else has won two.

It is the fifth career World Cup podium placing for Jan Hudec, second in super G. … The result matches his career best in SG first scored at Crans Montana, Switzerland Feb. 24, 2012. … His previous best at Val Gardena had been ninth in SG Dec. 14, 2007.

It is the tenth career World Cup podium result for Adrien Theaux. … His fifth in SG. … His previous best at Val Gardena had been fifth in SG, Dec. 14, 2012.

It is the fourth-best SG result at Val Gardena for Erik Guay. … It is the 11th time Bode Miller has claimed a top-10 finish in a race at Val Gardena. … It is the sixth best World Cup result for Travis Ganong and his best in super G, topping a 20th from Lake Louise Nov. 28, 2010. … It is the fourth best of six scoring results at Val Gardena for Andrew Weibrecht. … If is the fifth scoring result at Val Gardena for Erik Fisher.

Aksel Lund Svindal bumps his lead in the World Cup overall standings to 460-335 over Marcel Hirscher (did not race). … Ted Ligety (DNF in race) is third overall with 269pts. … Hudec is top Canadian overall.

Svindal regains the lead of the super G standings 236-145 over Patrick Kueng (DNF in race). … Hudec is third with 126pts. … Bode Miller leads the U.S. in 14th with 58pts.

Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 1698-1069 over France. … Italy is third with 1023pts. … The U.S. is sixth with 604pts and Canada seventh with 397pts.

 

Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
 1  19  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund 1982 NOR  1:35.82  0.00
 2  12  102271 HUDEC Jan 1981 CAN  1:36.40  6.36
 3  14  192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA  1:36.73  9.97
 4  15  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:36.84  11.18
 5  5  51215 BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT  1:37.08  13.81
 6  25  102263 GUAY Erik 1981 CAN  1:37.19  15.01
 7  21  50858 STREITBERGER Georg 1981 AUT  1:37.34  16.66
 8  2  532431 MILLER Bode 1977 USA  1:37.37  16.98
 9  13  293006 INNERHOFER Christof 1984 ITA  1:37.38  17.09
 10  11  51327 PUCHNER Joachim 1987 AUT  1:37.41  17.42
 11  16  292514 HEEL Werner 1982 ITA  1:37.45  17.86
 12  24  510727 DEFAGO Didier 1977 SUI  1:37.60  19.51
 13  9  511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI  1:37.64  19.94
 14  7  53817 FRANZ Max 1989 AUT  1:37.72  20.82
 15  55  501076 OLSSON Hans 1984 SWE  1:37.85  22.24
 16  41  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA  1:38.07  24.66
 16  1  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  1:38.07  24.66
 18  4  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO  1:38.10  24.98
 19  31  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR  1:38.19  25.97
 20  3  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA  1:38.26  26.74
 21  23  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA  1:38.33  27.50
 22  26  191740 CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA  1:38.35  27.72
 23  39  511352 VILETTA Sandro 1986 SUI  1:38.37  27.94
 24  37  293141 VARETTONI Silvano 1984 ITA  1:38.39  28.16
 25  49  561067 PERKO Rok 1985 SLO  1:38.69  31.45
 26  51  194542 GIRAUD MOINE Valentin 1992 FRA  1:38.79  32.55
 27  46  51332 SCHEIBER Florian 1987 AUT  1:38.83  32.98
 28  58  534939 FISHER Erik 1985 USA  1:38.91  33.86
 28  43  53980 KRIECHMAYR Vincent 1991 AUT  1:38.91  33.86
 30  60  510890 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan 1981 SUI  1:38.93  34.08
 30  59  201811 STECHERT Tobias 1985 GER  1:38.93  34.08
 32  35  202059 FERSTL Josef 1988 GER  1:39.00  34.85
 33  45  103512 FRISCH Jeffrey 1984 CAN  1:39.04  35.28
 34  42  194190 ROGER Brice 1990 FRA  1:39.12  36.16
 35  54  102961 DIXON Robbie 1985 CAN  1:39.33  38.46
 36  40  191964 POISSON David 1982 FRA  1:39.41  39.34
 37  48  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO  1:39.46  39.89
 38  30  294277 KLOTZ Siegmar 1987 ITA  1:39.48  40.11
 39  52  191591 BERTRAND Yannick 1980 FRA  1:39.49  40.22
 39  27  191746 DE TESSIERES Gauthier 1981 FRA  1:39.49  40.22
 41  61  533866 NYMAN Steven 1982 USA  1:39.61  41.53
 42  38  202196 BRANDNER Klaus 1990 GER  1:39.68  42.30
 43  47  103271 THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN  1:39.69  42.41
 43  36  934518 DANIELS Nick 1991 USA  1:39.69  42.41
 45  56  103385 PRIDY Conrad 1988 CAN  1:39.81  43.72
 46  44  990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA  1:39.93  45.04
 47  32  103612 PRIDY Morgan 1990 CAN  1:40.04  46.24
 48  53  501439 HEDIN Douglas 1990 SWE  1:40.13  47.23
 49  63  510997 BERTHOD Marc 1983 SUI  1:40.73  53.80
 50  33  934643 GOLDBERG Jared 1991 USA  1:40.76  54.13
 51  62  561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO  1:40.90  55.67
 52  68  170131 FAARUP Christoffer 1992 DAN  1:41.05  57.31
 53  50  560447 SPORN Andrej 1981 SLO  1:41.14  58.30
 54  67  20267 ESTEVE Kevin 1989 AND  1:41.44  61.58
 55  65  6290062 BARUFFALDI Stefano 1992 ITA  1:42.09  68.71
 56  70  660021 DANILOCHKIN Yuri 1991 BLR  1:42.52  73.42
 57  71  430472 KLUSAK Michal 1990 POL  1:45.92  110.68
Disqualified 1st run
 20  50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT
 8  292455 FILL Peter 1982 ITA
Did not finish 1st run
 69  670058 KOSHKIN Dmitriy 1986 KAZ
 66  400237 MEINERS Maarten 1992 NED
 64  491129 TERRA Ferran 1987 SPA
 57  192932 FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA
 34  481705 GLEBOV Alexander 1983 RUS
 29  50753 KROELL Klaus 1980 AUT
 28  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN
 22  53902 MAYER Matthias 1990 AUT
 18  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA
 17  293550 MARSAGLIA Matteo 1985 ITA
 10  511139 KUENG Patrick 1984 SUI
 6  54005 STRIEDINGER Otmar 1991 AUT

 

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”