The World Cup According to Grande: Maria dethrones Lins and the Boys Sit and Wait at The Beav

A new champ in Lake Louise and a day of sit and wait in Beaver Creek

We got a bad bit of weather in Beaver Creek. High winds and bad visibility caused delay after delay and eventually the cancellation. Most of the coaches on the World Cup felt it was justified. The down side is that Beaver Creek/Vail and USSA have put in a ton of effort to make the track as good as it was. The other bad result is that WE SKI WELL AT HOME! We will take a hit at the end of the season for his unless it is doubled up on one of our favorite hills, like Kitzbuhel, Wengen or Val Gardena. But if a second race is thrown in on Val d’Isere or Kvitfjell, where we have struggled historically, well it could hurt us as a team when it comes down to globes, rankings and quotas. I am not second guessing any call made by the FIS with regard to safety; I am just openly hoping a reschedule goes to a venue we like.

The boys have SG tomorrow and honestly, the weather looks sketchy for tomorrow too. There is little chance that it will change and we can only hope that the weather breaks and the SG can happen.

LAKE LOUISE

While I wish the margin held for Lindsey, I can see what happened. Maria was better. She was better on the jump than Lins, she was much better in the small terrain all the way down.  And she took the tighter line on Claire’s at the bottom that Lins has been taking for years and executed it well. Maria just skied better in many places where Lins used to dominate. And it ended up being close, so get after it tomorrow and all will be good. I am still picking Lins tomorrow, why not? To me, she is still the Queen of Lake Louise.

Head obviously ran well today. With Maria, Lindsey, Goergl and Anja all in the top 6 and it makes you wonder though about the Lange thing. Why did Lins not stick with Lange when she switched to Head? Obviously, Head pushed the package but Maria skis on Lange and makes money on it. Lins skied on Lange or a Rossi version of it for many years. Why not try to make a deal that would bring Lange and Head onto Lindsey’s feet? Is it not worth it to make sure your boots are in line and are the same as what you have had for years?

The rest of the race was pretty fun to watch. Here are some observations worth mentioning:

Daniela Merighetti (ITA): She did well in spite of skiing tactically poorly in the Fishnet/Fallaway/C turn section. It cost a bunch of time and I think if she cleans that up she can do even better than today. The problem with that statement is that most of the girls will have the same focus.

Andrea Fischbacher (AUT): She was NOT ready to go. She had a very bad run and was tossed around like she was not prepared. She is much better than we saw so don’t be surprised with a major improvement.

Alice McKennis (USA): I think I would watch for Alice to make a big move tomorrow. She showed her inexperience in the lower portions in the double trouble and Claire’s turn. She just had her head in the finish already, I think. She can make another half-second from Gunbarrel to the finish for her.

 
Lara Gut (SUI): It is pretty obvious that she is not confident yet. She will do well eventually but she is feeling her way down. And she is racing as a 19 year old right now after a year of injury and with very little cumulative experience on any hill. I think she will come around but not until she finds her confidence and maybe goes a whole year through familiar starts?

Before I close out the review, I want everyone to think about our girls today:

2nd, 4th, 11th, 19th, 21st, 24th and 26th…something like that. If I got it wrong, I apologize. Our only girl who did not score was Julia Ford, who needs a few starts to get confident before we should expect that of her. But when everyone but one gets a point or more, it makes people happy. And it makes athletes happy. Sure, Lins is pissed she was second. And Julia is likely more pissed she is not on the podium. And Alice would like to be 10th and all the rest were only about a half-second from the top 15. And they are likely angry about that!  It was a very strong overall day for the girls and we should all expect more. Tomorrow they get to run DH again on the same track so the chances to get it done tomorrow are great. I would love to see all those 7 in the top 20 and Ms. Ford with some points. I think the field will allow that if our girls can do their jobs.

TOMORROW DH IN LAKE LOUISE

I am going with Lindsey for the win. Maria 3RD! Julia 2nd. I think that Goergl will take too many risks and end up deeper in the field. Watch for Stacey who is now a veteran, to make a move up into the top ten. I hope Alice can do it but see a similar result. I think the other USA girls will end up between  15 and 20 and Juila will get some tail-end points. Making it an exceptional day for us as the girls get on the plane to Europe. I would look to Merrighetti to improve again, and also Andrea Fischbacher. I just don’t think she can be that bad for 2 days in a row on the same hill. Marie Rolland of France is not my favorite although she was good today. I think Ingrid Jacquemod might be able to squeeze into the back of the top 10. Although it will be tough with so many Americans filling those spots!  Wait for Lara Gut to prove something to you before you pick her for anything. Fabienne Suter could also get into the top ten again and Marsaglia (ITA) should be able to use the confidence from today to contend for a top 10.

PODIUM TOMORROW: VONN, MANCUSO, RIESCH

 

MEN’S SG IN BEAVER CREEK     

We have some great numbers for tomorrow at Beaver Creek. I am concerned, looking at the weather, that we will not have a race tomorrow. But I have been told before that I am too negative about the weather and should just hope it works out. But I know that, and the forecast is posted on line. I do not have to be the one who passes it along. READ IT! Wind, snow, bad visibility is all possible tomorrow. I hope we can rise to that occasion but right now it looks bleak. The really good side of it is that in Colorado it rarely stays bad for long. Especially in the Vail Valley which seems to have an endless amount of good weather when we need it.

For tomorrow, you have to look at the numbers and the guys. There are a lot of dudes who have done well here over the years. There have been a number of guys over the years who have done very well. Look at Bode, Walchhofer, Cuche, Svindal who have had the consistency. And the guys who have it on the line also have another raceto go. I think that Walchhofer is less likely because the DH was canceled than the other guys who are 3 or 4 event skiers. Past that, you will see some Americans and Canadians out perform their ranks. Reichelt of Austria creates a problem in SG especially at the Beav. He is someone who is so much a super G specialist that he would have to create funding problems for his coaches.  There are only 7 or 8 World Cup SG races a year, so you are making a specific statement if you raise Hannes as a star or even a guy you support. The Austrians might be able to run their team this way, but any team I might run in the USA probably cannot. Regardless, I am not picking him.

FAVORITES

I am really high on Streitberger and Baumann from Austria on their technical prowess on GS and SG turns. Innerhofer (ITA), Scheiber (AUT) and Reichelt (AUT) have great numbers and are excellent GS skiers. Janka and Cuche from Schweiz are worth your time. Svindal and Jansrud from Norway are too. I am concerned that Jansrud has not been on the hill in
2 days as he pulled out of a training run and today was canceled. My same concern goes for Ted.

CANADIANS: Dixon at 1 and Guay at 21 are both worth your time. But Guay has not put it on the line yet and Dixon is number 1. Which after some snow I am not going for. Manny O-P is 10 which is an excellent number but he has yet to prove anything. I am not going to pick him in the top 10 myself. Mostly due to his lack of results in Lake Louise.

AMERICANS

While I like our guys and our numbers, I don’t feel like we will stuff results in the top 10. I do think Bode will get in the 10, and I also think that Ligety and Weibrecht can score. I am concerned with Sully and his set up at this point so I will not pick him now. But I will when I hear he has it figured out. I am very disconcerted with the start numbers for Nyman and Fisher and I will not pick Ganong until he goes top 10 once first. I want Fish and Nyman to produce but my picks will not include them until they get it done!

SG PODIUM

Svindal, Cuche, Scheiber