Reichelt claims final men’s super-G in Aspen

By Published On: March 16th, 2017Comments Off on Reichelt claims final men’s super-G in Aspen

ASPEN, Colo.– It was another day of sunshine and fast skiing in Aspen, Colo., as the men wrapped up the final super-G of the World Cup season on Thursday. Austrian veteran Hannes Reichelt walked away with the hard-fought win with a time of 1:08.22 seconds. Joining the Austrian on the podium was Wednesday’s downhill winner, Italy’s Dominik Paris, in second, 0.11 seconds back, and a tie for third between Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Swiss Mauro Caviezel, 0.33 second off of Reichelt’s pace.

With the men running second behind the women, racing didn’t get underway until 11:00 am local time, well after the course began to bake in the Colorado spring sun. Kilde’s compatriot, Kjetil Jansrud, who had already locked up the super-G globe at the penultimate World Cup speed stop in Kvitfjell, Norway, kicked things off with bib one and let the field know just how fast and challenging the Aztec slope was as he ran into some trouble on lower Ruthie’s Run before setting the early pace. Kilde then kicked out of the gate with bib three and looked textbook as he slid comfortably into the lead. Caviezel was the next racer on course and matched Kilde to the hundredth for his first career World Cup podium. Keeping the action going, Reichelt wore bib five and skied a tactically masterful run en route to setting the pace before Paris squeezed into second from bib seven on the warm track.

Ever the tactician, the 36-year-old Reichelt credits his years of experience for his form in the twilight of his career. After starting the season late due to a back surgery in September, the veteran didn’t miss a beat once he returned and was quickly among the fastest racers on tour.

“I’m really happy about the end of the season with the victory,” he said. ” The beginning of the season was not easy for me; I had the surgery in September and my goal was to get in shape for the World Champs. The World Champs were not so good for me, but after World Champs in super-G, I really get in good shape.”

ASPEN, USA - MARCH 16: Hannes Reichelt of Austria takes 2nd place in the overall standings, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway wins the globe in the overall standings, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway takes 3rd place in the overall standings during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals Women's and Men's Super-G on March 16, 2017 in Aspen, USA (Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom)

Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom

Since Jansrud had secured the super-G globe prior to Thursday’s race, the Norwegian had other priorities in mind as he wanted to do everthing he could in order to give his teammate the best shot at a win to end the season. This was also Norway’s sixth super-G globe in a row between Jansrud, Kilde, and Aksel Lund Svindal.

“It’s tough going first, but the reason why I did it was to send a message up to the start to Kilde to try and get him some info starting three and maybe let him grab a win at the end of the season,” Jansrud said. “It’s been six years now, before that, Austria had a period where they maybe took six or seven in a row. I think it’s a mix of me being focused on speed disciplines, of course, but also doing a lot of technical training, doing a lot of giant slalom, and I hope it continues.”

The Americans were represented by Travis Ganong and Andrew Weibrecht. Ganong led the way with a solid eighth-place finish with Weibrecht coming in 17th as the two look forward to some much needed rest after a long World Cup season.

“I was a little nervous; my knees aren’t feeling that great,” explained Ganong. “End of the season, everything is kind of aching and sore, but I just turned my brain off and pushed. My super-G is pretty good right now. I just have to trust myself and relax and push and it seems like the skiing is there. I was pretty happy with my skiing, actually, it was a fun run and a super fun super-G hill. … It’s good to end the season on a solid result like that, it gives you a little bit of satisfaction going into the summer and makes you hungry to keep pushing.”

The men and women will now race the Team Event on Friday, March 17.

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Top 10

1. Hannes Reichelt (AUT) – Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
2. Dominik Paris (ITA) – Nordica/Nordica/Marker
3. Mauro Caviezel (SUI) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5. Adrien Theaux (FRA) – Head/Head/Head
5. Vincent Kreichmayr (AUT) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
7. Peter Fill (ITA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8. Travis Ganong (USA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9. Kjetil Jansrud (NOR) – Head/Head/Head
10. Alexis Pinturault (FRA) – Head/Head/Head


Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time Diff. FIS Points WC Points
 1  5  50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT  1:08.22  0.00  100.00
 2  7  291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA  1:08.33  +0.11  1.74  80.00
 3  4  511513 CAVIEZEL Mauro 1988 SUI  1:08.55  +0.33  5.22  60.00
 3  3  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR  1:08.55  +0.33  5.22  60.00
 5  20  192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA  1:08.75  +0.53  8.39  45.00
 5  8  53980 KRIECHMAYR Vincent 1991 AUT  1:08.75  +0.53  8.39  45.00
 7  9  292455 FILL Peter 1982 ITA  1:08.77  +0.55  8.71  36.00
 8  18  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA  1:08.82  +0.60  9.50  32.00
 9  1  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:09.02  +0.80  12.66  29.00
 10  23  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  1:09.24  +1.02  16.15  26.00
 11  22  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  1:09.30  +1.08  17.10  24.00
 12  17  53817 FRANZ Max 1989 AUT  1:09.46  +1.24  19.63  22.00
 13  10  202059 FERSTL Josef 1988 GER  1:09.48  +1.26  19.95  20.00
 14  24  194298 GIEZENDANNER Blaise 1991 FRA  1:09.57  +1.35  21.37  18.00
 15  14  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN  1:09.60  +1.38  21.85  16.00
 16  2  561255 CATER Martin 1992 SLO  1:09.77  +1.55  24.54
 17  21  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA  1:11.63  +3.41  53.98
 18  25  6190179 ALPHAND Nils 1996 FRA  1:12.64  +4.42  69.97
Disqualified 1st run
 12  200379 SANDER Andreas 1989 GER
 6  100558 COOK Dustin 1989 CAN
Did not finish 1st run
 19  561216 KLINE Bostjan 1991 SLO
 16  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI
 15  102263 GUAY Erik 1981 CAN
 13  511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI
 11  53902 MAYER Matthias 1990 AUT

 

 

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.