Garmisch win would help lock up SL title for Grange

Garmisch has been a regular stop on the World Cup circuit since the halcyon days of the early ’70’s when Roland Collombin disregarded personal safety to win three consecutive downhills there. It has been primarily regarded as a downhill stop and was one of the first sites to truly embrace super G, having hosted 21 of them since 1983.
    This season a lonely slalom is on tap for Saturday.
    There was a slalom at Garmisch-Partenkirchen last season as well, connected at the hip with a downhill. Mario Matt won that race. The last male to claim a slalom win at the historic site was Alberto Tomba in 1995 when he completed a three-year sweep of the Garmisch slalom. All told there have been just 10 men’s slalom at Garmisch. Steve Mahre too won twice there in the early 1980’s.
    The women, meanwhile, visit Sestriere, Italy, site of many of the 2006 Olympic alpine events, but not the women’s downhill or super G, the events being contested this season. Renate Goetschl won the last World Cup on the site, in 2004. Nadia Styger won the super G the same season, her first World Cup victory.
GARMISCH has been a regular stop on the World Cup circuit since the halcyon days of the early ’70’s when Roland Collombin disregarded personal safety to win three consecutive downhills there. It has been primarily regarded as a downhill stop and was one of the first sites to truly embrace super G, having hosted 21 of them since 1983.
    This season a lonely slalom is on tap for Saturday.
    There was a slalom at Garmisch-Partenkirchen last season as well, connected at the hip with a downhill. Mario Matt won that race. The last male to claim a slalom win at the historic site was Alberto Tomba in 1995 when he completed a three-year sweep of the Garmisch slalom. All told there have been just 10 men’s slalom at Garmisch. Steve Mahre too won twice there in the early 1980’s.
    The relative success of slalom skiers in this season’s combined events and the incredible on-course showings of racers like Matt, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange and Italian Manfred Moelgg has heightened attention toward the slalom. Grange has built up a strong 150-point lead for the slalom title, but with four remaining on the schedule results at Garmisch could prove key to the final tally.
     Reigning overall champion Benjamin Raich is ranked fourth in slalom currently, tied with German Felix Neureuther who will certainly enjoy crowd support. Jens Byggmark, Julien Lizeroux and Ted Ligety all remain within range of Grange. With a huge U.S. military presence in Garmisch, Ligety is likely to hear some cheering as well.
    Grange, though, has been incredible and shows no signs of slipping. In the captain’s chair if he can be convinced to ski within himself, Grange will be hard to beat. Having Lizeroux as a training partner isn’t hurting either.

Women’s speed stop at Sestriere
The women visit Sestriere, Italy, site of many of the 2006 Olympic alpine events, but not the women’s downhill or super G, the events being contested this season. Renate Goetschl won the last World Cup on the site, in 2004. Nadia Styger won the super G the same season, her first World Cup victory.
    Lindsey Vonn leads the downhill standings by 202 points over Goetschl. Vonn has three downhill wins on the season. Goetschl, the career leader in downhill wins, has not won this season. She has not gone this far into a season without a downhill win since 2000, when she won the overall title.
    There are three Austrians — Goetschl, Maria Holaus and and Elisabeth Goergl — in the current top 10 of the downhill standings. There are also three Canadians. Britt Janyk sits third on the list primarily based on North American results early in the season. She won Aspen in marginal conditions and was third at Lake Louise. Kelly VanderBeek still struggles at times with consistency, but a second at St. Anton and a fourth at Cortina have her in position. She first came to international awareness when she was fourth in the 2006 Olympic super G. It was held over the mountain from Sestriere in San Sicario, but she should still feel some comfort in the region.
    The third Canadian on the list is Emily Brydon. The numbers say she is getting stronger as the season progresses coming off a St. Moritz super G win in the last Cup race. Much of her success over the years has come at St. Moritz, however, and Sestriere has not been a stronghold for her.
    Vonn is joined in the top 10 of the downhill standings by Julia Mancuso, and Sestriere is the site of her most important race, the gold medal in the 2006 GS. Mancuso has had streaks of brilliance this season, countered by streaks of unexplainable disappointment. If she can break the current unexplainable streak, Sestriere seems a likely place to do it.
    Vonn, simply put, is the best on the circuit right now. The course — not overly tough but with enough technical requirements to demand considerable skills — should suit her, though the first training run was not encouraging. (She finished 41st Wednesday ).   
    There are two other women in the downhill top 10. Anja Paerson has had a terrible season — for her. She’s still ranked in the top 13 in all disciplines, and ranked higher in downhill than any of them. She cannot be ruled out, as she proved at the World Championships last season. The other is Frenchwoman Ingrid Jacquemod, but she has not threatened for a downhill win all season and not cracked the top 10 since the middle of December.
    Although many of the downhill contenders are also in the super G title hunt, there are also considerable differences. There has been no repeat winner in the five super G’s held. The standings reflect this with seven skiers within 100 points of tour leader Maria Riesch. Both Mancuso and Vonn are just outside the list of seven and will need podium spots at Sestriere if they hope to contend for the super G crown.
    Riesch was second in the 2004 season-ending SG on the site (behind Styger), and been solid all season with podiums in every discipline but giant slalom. Super G, however, is easily her best shot at a discipline title, and she is third overall with a glimmer of hope existing there as well.
    Brydon, just 20 points back, should have her sights set on the super G globe. With the GS crown having been all but won by Denise Karbon, Goergl will win the super G title or none. Goetschl has historically gotten stronger as the season progresses, so she too must be considered. Martina Schild is riding early season success. She led the standings after getting her first career win and has steadily dropped down the listing since.
    And then there is Nicole Hosp, the World Cup overall leader and defending champion. She has been sixth in three of the super G’s this season and third in another. It is a touch early for her to be pulling out all for nothing runs, but if the opportunity presents itself, Hosp is capable of winning any race.