Cuche claims downhill title with Kvitfjell win

Swiss Didier Cuche worked as fast as he could to erase his Olympic disappoint. Saturday, March 6, he claimed the race win and the World Cup downhill title, his third in the last four seasons.

After winning both training runs, Didier Cuche took an impressive .47 second win down the Kvitfjell, Norway, Olympianbakken speed track for his fifth win of the season leaving Norway’s Olympic star, Aksel Lund Svindal, with second place and last season’s winner on the track, Klaus Kroell, in third.

The result also propelled 35 year old veteran to the downhill crown.

Canadian Erik Guay, so strong in training with second and third place finishes barely made the top 10 in ninth place. Teammate Jan Hudec finished 13th.

The U.S. forces got one point total from Steven Nyman in 30th. Travis Ganong finished 40th.

Cuche said he was uncharacteristically nervous before his run, but settled down as he got into the final stages of his race day routine. “About 30 minutes before the start I calmed down,” he told reporters. “I found a really tight line down the course.”

Tight and fast, Cuche clocked in at 1:45.98, more than a second faster than either of his training runs.

Andrew Weibrecht, American bronze medalist at Vancouver, crashed into the nets after launching too big from the top jump.

“We’ll know more, he’s still being checked out by the doctors,” said U.S. speed coach Chris Brigham. “He banged up that shoulder he injured earlier. Right now he’s looking questionable for the super G tomorrow, but we’ll see.”

Brigham said other than a little wind at the top, the course was in superb conditions and ran very fast. “They were ideal conditions from top to bottom. It was a super tight race, as it normally is on the men’s tour. Steven (Nyman) today had some fast splits, makes a little mistake and he’s 1.7 seconds out in 30th place. That’s the kind of day it was.”

Bode Miller did not attend the races at Kvitfjell, and will rejoin the team for World Cup finals at Garmisch.

Photos by GEPA

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men’s Downhill, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 6, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Cuche, Head/Head/Head
2 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Kroell, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Olsson, Head/Head/Head
5 Sporn, Elan//Elan
6 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Scheiber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Buechel, Head/Lange/Head
9 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Grugger, Head/Head/Head
10 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men’s Downhill, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 6, 2010. … It is the 29th race of the men’s 35 race 2010 World Cup schedule. … The seventh of eight scheduled downhills. … It is the 42nd Cup race at Kvitfjell. … the 20th DH. … Top seven racers are within the same second. … Top 35 within two seconds.

It is the 14th career World Cup win for Didier Cuche. … His seventh in DH. … It is his second career win at Kvitfjell having also won the DH in 2007. … It is his fifth win of the season and third in DH. … It is the 10th World Cup win of the season for the Swiss. … 12th including the Olypmics.

It is the 26th career World cup podium for Aksel Lund Svindal. … his seventh in DH. … It is his second in Dh at Kvitfjell having placed third last season. … It is his seventh podium result of the season including three Olympic medals.

It is the eighth career World Cup podium for Klaus Kroell. … his third at Kvitfjell. … He won the DH last season and was also third in 2008. … It is his first podium result of the season.

It is the 44th career World Cup top 10 for Eric Guay. … the 24th in DH. … It is his seventh top 10 at Kvitfjell. … His sixth top 10 of the season including two Olympic results. … It is the 19th career World Cup scoring result for Jan Hudec. … His second, and best, of the season. … He also placed top 30 in two Olympic races. … It is the 50th career Cup scoring result for Manuel Osborne-Paradis. … His sixth best of seven scoring results at Kvitfjell. … It is his 11th scoring result of the season. …. It is the 42nd scoring result of Steven Nyman’s World Cup career. … His fifth at Kvitfjell. … It is his fifth score of the season.

Cuche leads the Cup DH standings 496-348 over Carlo Janka (6th in race) and cannot be overtaken for the World Cup DH title. … Osborne-Paradis is the top ranked North American on the DH list in fourth with 245pts, behind Werner Heel at 252 with one race remaining. … Bode Miller (did not race) is the top American in 15th place with 110pts. … Benjamin Raich (38th in race) leads the overall standings 1007-937 over Janka with five races remaining. … Cuche is third at 846. … Thirteen men could still mathematically win the overall title.