Didier Cuche will retire at season's end

Didier Cuche, at 37, announced at Kitzbuehel today (Jan 19) he will call it quits at the end of this World Cup season.

The Swiss veteran has won 18 World Cup races in his career including ten downhills. He has won at Kitzbuehel four times (he says three, one was a two run “sprint”) and is listed high on the list of favorites to win again this season. He is going out on top, having claimed the World Cup downhill title in four of the last five seasons.

When he won the prestigious downhill at Kitzbuehel last season it made him the oldest downhill winner of all time and he upped that with another win a week later at Chamonix, and further yet this November when he won at Lake Louise.

“Kitzbuehel represents something for me and I decided to make my decision here. It’s not a decision that I took last night or today,” Cuche said. “I am in top form and I can still aspire to win races. It’s in this condition that I wish to retire from the World Cup.”

Cuche led the final training run at Kitzbuehel on Wednesday.

Cuche photo by Gepa