Val d'Isere: Innerhofer bests veterans in 2nd trainer

Italian Christof Innerhofer edged veterans Didier Cuche and Marco Buechel to win the second training run at Val d'Isere, France, on Thursday. The controversial Face d Bellevarde race course, unused since the 1992 Olympics, again played a large role, disqualifying 16. But, just two failed to finish and six chose not to participate.
    It was a promising result for Innerhofer. At 23, he has just one downhill top 10 finish to his credit. Although the top three were all within three tenths of a second, Mario Scheiber in fourth was over a second out. Bode Miller finished in eighth place and John Kucera in 15th to pace the North American squads. Marco Sullivan was 17th and Robbie Dixon 19th. Steven Nyman was 22nd. Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay were among the disqualified.

Italian Christof Innerhofer edged veterans Didier Cuche and Marco Buechel to win the second training run at Val d'Isere, France on Thursday. The controversial Face d Bellevarde race course, unused since the 1992 Olympics, again played a large role, disqualifying 16. But, just two failed to finish and six chose not to participate.
    It was a promising result for Innerhofer. At 23, he has just one downhill top 10 finish to his credit. Although the top three were all within three tenths of a second, Mario Scheiber in fourth was over a second out. Bode Miller finished in eighth place and John Kucera in 15th to pace the North American squads. Marco Sullivan was 17th and Robbie Dixon 19th. Steven Nyman was 22nd. Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay were among the disqualified.
    A couple of slalom specialists also took advantage of the excellent conditions to establish fast times such as Austria’s Benjamin Raich (13th) and France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange, an unexpected 16th and only 2.89 seconds behind Innerhofer.

Innerhofer exhausted at the finish
Innerhofer, ninth at Bormio in downhill and seventh at Kitzbühel in super G, was first thought to have also missed a gate yet his trainers were pleased to tell him that his achieved a clean run down the “La Face" course.
    “I’m really happy, it’s exciting to have clocked the best time today here, it’s a first for me,” said the Italian afterward. “This course is technically extremely challenging and I was exhausted at the arrival."
    “I fully charged and I struggled in some parts, but I guess it has been the case for most of us. I must say I’m having a great time here and I really like this slope a lot. I hope the weather remains as nice in the coming days as today, it makes a huge difference when you can clearly see what’s coming up.”
    Cuche, fastest on Thursday, also enjoyed the fair weather Thursday.
    “It’s quite easier when the visibility is as clear as now, but this course is extremely long now,” he said. “I could take more risks today but I was tired at the end. I was pleased to see that some turns have been set straighter today, yet there are still too many turns and not enough fast sections. Some difficult sections remind me tough courses as the “Birds of Prey” at Beaver Creek, the “Stelvio” at Bormio or the “Streif” at Kitzbühel, unfortunately there is no really fast gliding segment here.”
    The average speed of Innerhofer moved up to 80,36 km/h – 5 km/h faster than Wednesday. Interestingly enough, Patrick Ortlieb, the Olympic Champion here, was almost 13 seconds faster during his winning run in 1992 than Innerhofer.
    “It’s surely more interesting for us today, and maybe it will be a little faster on Saturday,” said World Cup veteran Marco Buechel. “It’s still a roller-coaster, but at least there are some challenging parts at the middle of the course,” Buechel added. “By fair conditions, the best will for sure fight for victory as on other courses.”
    Another training run is scheduled for Friday – yet the weather forecast is not too positive. It may snow again in this part of the French Alps.

    — Patrick Lang contributed to this report