Kvitfjell: Cuche wins DH, claims crystal globe

By Published On: March 10th, 2007Comments Off on Kvitfjell: Cuche wins DH, claims crystal globe

Didier Cuche of Switzerland won the next-to-last World Cup downhill of the season on Saturday to clinch his first discipline title in the event.
    Cuche raced down the 3,035-meter Olympiabakken course in 1 minute, 28.51 seconds, edging Canada’s Erik Guay by 0.06 of a second. It was Cuche’s first downhill win of the season.


KVITFJELL, Norway — Didier Cuche of Switzerland won the next-to-last World Cup downhill of the season on Saturday to clinch his first discipline title in the event.
    Cuche raced down the 3,035-meter Olympiabakken course in 1 minute, 28.51 seconds, edging Canada’s Erik Guay by 0.06 of a second. It was Cuche’s first downhill win of the season.
    Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein was third in 1:28.94.
    Cuche became the first Swiss skier to win a World Cup race at Kvitfjell, site of the men’s Olympic alpine ski races at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.
    “I’ve been second here in downhill also,” Cuche said, referring to his second-place finish to Daron Rahlves in 2000. “It’s nice to win.”
    Michael Walchhofer of Austria, the defending World Cup downhill champion, was fourth in 1:28.84.
    Aksel Lund Svindal, who won the downhill gold medal in last month’s World Championships in Sweden, finished 11th on his home hill to gain ground on Benjamin Raich in the chase for the World Cup overall title.
    Raich, the defending overall champion, had to settle for 21st.
    Only 103 points separate them Raich and Svindal the standings. Cuche is 152 points behind in third place. Miller is fourth, 348 behind Raich.
    “I think Benni is so good in the technical events that it’s going to be really hard for me to catch him,” Cuche said. “But who knows? I’m not giving up.”
    Cuche topped the final downhill standings with 607 points. Buechel was second with 439 and Guay third with 393.
    Skiing without pain helped Cuche’s to come back strongly this season.
    “The key was coming back from injury,” Cuche said. “I had a big problem with my knee, a lot of pain last season. Now, I can push and take risks.”
    For Guay, it was his second third runner-up finish this season. Last month, he won his first race to give Canada its first downhill victory in 13 years.
    “It was a fair race, Cuche started 30th and he was able to win,” Guay said. “He’s also won the [downhill] title so he’s the best skier.
    “The conditions weren’t that easy at first, but the race officials did a great job. The hill itself was in great condition. It was hard. They pulled it off. They did what they had to do.”
    Most of the early starters finished well behind. Sweden’s Patrik Jarbyn, a bronze medalist in the downhill at the World Championships, wound up 48th among 60 finishers.
    American Bode Miller, a former overall champion, was 15th. Erik Fisher was 38th, Steven Nyman 42nd, Marco Sullivan 46th, JJ Johnson 50th and Scott Macartney 55th.
    The start was delayed nearly an hour because of foggy and snowy conditions at Kvitfjell, site of the men’s Olympic alpine ski races at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics.
    The competition was stopped because of the poor visibility by the organizers after 11 skiers completed the course. When it was restarted an hour later, the weather was clear and the times much faster.
    The final downhill is next week at the World Cup Finals in Switzerland.


THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's DH, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 10, 2007

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
2 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
4 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
6 Clarey, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Kernen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
9 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Myhre, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men's downhill, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 10, 2007. … It is the 31st event of the men's 38-race World Cup schedule. … It is the 10 of 11 scheduled DHs. … Due to cancellations, five races remain, a SG at Kvitfjell March 11 and four at World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
    It is the sixth career win for Didier Cuche. … His third in DH. … He had not won a World Cup race since Jan. 30, 2004, in DH at Garmisch. … He had placed second in four DHs this season, twice by less than a tenth of a second. … It is his third podium at Kvitfjell but first since March 3, 2000. … He is the first Swiss to win a DH at Kvitfjell.
    It is the eighth career World Cup podium for Erik Guay. … His sixth in DH. … It is his fourth podium of the season. … All in DH.
    It is the 14th career World Cup podium for Marco Buechel. … His sixth in DH. … It is his second podium of the season, the first Nov. 25 in DH at Lake Louise. … His best previous result at Kvitfjell had been sixth in DH March 5, 2005.
    It is the second World Cup scoring result for Jeffrey Frisch, the first a 29th placing in SG at Hinterstoder Dec. 20 of this season. … He won the NorAm DH crown last season. … Bode Miller matches his 12th-best Cup result of the season. … He has not placed better than 13th since the World Championships ended in February, but has scored in four disciplines since that time. … It is the 12th Cup scoring result of the season for John Kucera. … His second-best career result in DH.
    Didier Cuche extends his lead in the World Cup DH standings to 607-439 over Marco Buechel. … Erik Guay sits third on the DH list with 393pts, ahead of Peter Fill (5th in race) by 11pts with one race remaining. … Bode Miller (15th in race) is the top American in the DH standings in seventh and 289pts. … Benjamin Raich (21st in race) holds the lead in the overall standings 1055-952 over Aksel Lund Svindal (11th in race). … Cuche holds third at 903. … Miller is fourth at 707 with five races remaining. … Winning margin is '06 of a second. … Top 16 are within a second. … Top 42 are within two seconds. … Hermann Maier, in 30th place, is 1.57 seconds out.

Kvitfjell men's World Cup downhill results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
 1  30  510030 CUCHE Didier  1974  SUI   1:28.51  0.00
 2  27  102263 GUAY Erik  1981  CAN   1:28.57  0.92
 3  29  350032 BUECHEL Marco  1971  LIE   1:28.80  4.42
 4  28  50041 WALCHHOFER Michael  1975  AUT   1:28.84  5.03
 5  26  292455 FILL Peter  1982  ITA   1:28.94  6.56
 6  37  191740 CLAREY Johan  1981  FRA   1:29.20  10.52
 7  19  510478 KERNEN Bruno  1972  SUI   1:29.25  11.29
 7  13  510727 DEFAGO Didier  1977  SUI   1:29.25  11.29
 9  46  292514 HEEL Werner  1982  ITA   1:29.27  11.59
 10  61  421400 MYHRE Lars Elton  1984  NOR   1:29.30  12.05
 11  23  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund  1982  NOR   1:29.34  12.66
 12  48  103512 FRISCH Jeffrey  1984  CAN   1:29.42  13.88
 13  21  50182 STROBL Fritz  1972  AUT   1:29.43  14.03
 14  31  510890 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan  1981  SUI   1:29.45  14.34
 15  25  532431 MILLER Bode  1977  USA   1:29.46  14.49
 16  55

 501076 OLSSON Hans  1984  SWE   1:29.50  15.10
 17  39  50858 STREITBERGER Georg  1981  AUT   1:29.53  15.56
 18  58  191911 NOCENTI Cyril  1982  FRA   1:29.60  16.63
 19  44  102873 KUCERA John  1984  CAN   1:29.70  18.15
 20  40  561067 PERKO Rok  1985  SLO   1:29.75  18.91
 21  32  50625 RAICH Benjamin  1978  AUT   1:29.81  19.83
 21  14  50451 GRUBER Christoph  1976  AUT   1:29.81  19.83
 23  18  510767 HOFFMANN Ambrosi  1977  SUI   1:29.87  20.74
 24  56  201439 STEHLE Johannes  1981  GER   1:29.88  20.90
 25  42  220228 MICKEL Finlay  1977  GBR   1:29.89  21.05
 26  47  293006 INNERHOFER Christof  1984  ITA   1:29.91  21.35
 27  12  50833 GRUGGER Hans  1981  AUT   1:29.99  22.57
 28  22  51005 SCHEIBER Mario  1983  AUT   1:30.00  22.73
 29  54  293141 VARETTONI Silvano  1984  ITA   1:30.01  22.88
 30  15  50423 MAIER Hermann  1972  AUT   1:30.08  23.95
 31  24  560332 JERMAN Andrej  1978  SLO   1:30.12  24.56
 32  41  201606 KEPPLER Stephan  1983  GER   1:30.15  25.01
 33  35  192746 THEAUX Adrien  1984  FRA   1:30.19  25.62
 34  20  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel  1984  CAN   1:30.22  26.08
 35  33  102814 BOURQUE Francois  1984  CAN   1:30.27  26.84
 36  62  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko  1986  CRO   1:30.29  27.15
 37  38  51215 BAUMANN Romed  1986  AUT   1:30.31  27.45
 38  49  534939 FISHER Erik  1985  USA   1:30.33  27.76
 39  16  191116 DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel  1977  FRA   1:30.34  27.91
 40  34  510993 ALBRECHT Daniel  1983  SUI   1:30.40  28.83
 41  36  291399 GIRARDI Walter  1976  ITA   1:30.44  29.44
 42  17  533866 NYMAN Steven  1982  USA   1:30.50  30.35
 43  60  292056 GUFLER Michael  1979  ITA   1:30.57  31.42
 44  63  150421 ZAHROBSKY Petr  1980  CZE   1:30.61  32.03
 45  50  510207 HARI Konrad  1978  SUI   1:30.64  32.49
 46  5  533131 SULLIVAN Marco  1980  USA   1:30.67  32.95
 47  59  501026 RAINER Niklas  1983  SWE   1:30.83  35.39
 48  3  500150 JAERBYN Patrik  1969  SWE   1:30.97  37.52
 49  52  420911 SOLBAKKEN Bjarne  1977  NOR   1:31.04  38.59
 50  43  532173 JOHNSON Justin J  1977  USA   1:31.18  40.72
 51  64  421566 BRENNA Petter  1986  NOR   1:31.22  41.33
 52  8  291641 SULZENBACHER Kurt  1976  ITA   1:31.34  43.16
 53  11  50753 KROELL Klaus  1980  AUT   1:31.36  43.47
 54  45  291116 FATTORI Alessandro  1973  ITA   1:31.49  45.45
 55  1  532490 MACARTNEY Scott  1978  USA   1:31.60  47.13
 56  4  510747 GRUENENFELDER Tobias  1977  SUI   1:31.82  50.49
 57  2  191415 BOTTOLLIER-LASQUIN Marc  1979  FRA   1:32.01  53.38
 58  6  191591 BERTRAND Yannick  1980  FRA   1:32.13  55.21
 59  7  102271 HUDEC Jan  1981  CAN   1:32.38  59.03

Did not start 1st run:
SINE Gareth (CAN), STAUDACHER Patrick (ITA) < p>Did not finish 1st run:
POISSON David (FRA), HOFER Beni (SUI)

Disqualified 1st run:
BUDER Andreas (AUT)


Downhill standings
(After 10 of 11 races)

1. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 607 points.
2. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 439.
3. Erik Guay, Canada, 3o93.
4. Peter Fill, Italy, 382.
5. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 346.
6. Andrej Jerman, Slovenia, 339.
7. Bode Miller, United States, 289.
8. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 254.
9. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canada, 241.
10. Steven Nyman, United States, 234.

Overall standings
1. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 1,055 points.
2. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 952.
3. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 903.
4. Bode Miller, United States, 707.
5. Peter Fill, Italy, 691.
6. Mario Matt, Austria, 664
7. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 517.
8. Marc Berthod, Switzerland, 496.
9. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 484.
10. Kalle Palander, Finland, 482.
Also
13. Erik Guay, Canada, 469.
15. Ted Ligety, United States, 440.

 

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About the Author: Pete Rugh