. world ski news : Cuche claims downhill title with Kvitfjell win - 06 Ģąšņ 2010 - 22:21
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.
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.
Place Kvitfjell
(NOR) Discipline Downhill
Date 06.03.2010 Category FIS World Cup
Race codex 1237 Gender M
Valid for FIS Points YES TD Name Heikkala Seppo (FIN)
Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
1 18 510030 CUCHE Didier 1974 SUI 1:45.98 0.00
2 17 421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund 1982 NOR 1:46.45 5.85
3 14 50753 KROELL Klaus 1980 AUT 1:46.55 7.10
4 9 501076 OLSSON Hans 1984 SWE 1:46.69 8.84
5 27 560447 SPORN Andrej 1981 SLO 1:46.74 9.47
6 19 511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI 1:46.84 10.71
7 8 51005 SCHEIBER Mario 1983 AUT 1:46.89 11.33
8 10 350032 BUECHEL Marco 1971 LIE 1:46.99 12.58
9 13 102263 GUAY Erik 1981 CAN 1:47.00 12.70
10 28 50833 GRUGGER Hans 1981 AUT 1:47.08 13.70
10 22 292514 HEEL Werner 1982 ITA 1:47.08 13.70
12 39 561067 PERKO Rok 1985 SLO 1:47.09 13.83
13 35 102271 HUDEC Jan 1981 CAN 1:47.12 14.20
14 21 510727 DEFAGO Didier 1977 SUI 1:47.13 14.32
15 20 50041 WALCHHOFER Michael 1975 AUT 1:47.19 15.07
16 5 511139 KUENG Patrick 1984 SUI 1:47.29 16.32
17 2 51215 BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT 1:47.31 16.57
18 44 511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI 1:47.35 17.06
19 11 191964 POISSON David 1982 FRA 1:47.39 17.56
20 3 192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA 1:47.42 17.94
21 16 102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN 1:47.45 18.31
22 32 421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR 1:47.48 18.68
23 37 191591 BERTRAND Yannick 1980 FRA 1:47.49 18.81
24 7 191740 CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA 1:47.52 19.18
25 1 510747 GRUENENFELDER Tobias 1977 SUI 1:47.57 19.80
26 30 380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO 1:47.58 19.93
27 41 192932 FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA 1:47.67 21.05
28 33 291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA 1:47.68 21.17
28 26 293006 INNERHOFER Christof 1984 ITA 1:47.68 21.17
30 23 533866 NYMAN Steven 1982 USA 1:47.69 21.30
31 12 560332 JERMAN Andrej 1978 SLO 1:47.71 21.55
32 6 380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO 1:47.86 23.42
33 53 50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT 1:47.87 23.54
34 45 201987 STRODL Andreas 1987 GER 1:47.88 23.66
35 25 290998 STAUDACHER Patrick 1980 ITA 1:47.93 24.29
36 15 510767 HOFFMANN Ambrosi 1977 SUI 1:48.01 25.28
37 42 150421 ZAHROBSKY Petr 1980 CZE 1:48.29 28.77
38 31 50625 RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT 1:48.32 29.15
39 43 511039 KREUZER Ralf 1983 SUI 1:48.44 30.64
40 51 530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA 1:48.47 31.01
41 55 421400 MYHRE Lars Elton 1984 NOR 1:48.61 32.76
42 38 201606 KEPPLER Stephan 1983 GER 1:48.64 33.13
43 56 103271 THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN 1:48.68 33.63
44 50 561085 KRIZAJ Andrej 1986 SLO 1:48.73 34.25
45 48 990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA 1:48.88 36.12
46 49 40171 BRANCH Craig 1977 AUS 1:48.89 36.24
47 47 561216 KLINE Bostjan 1991 SLO 1:48.93 36.74
48 34 532490 MACARTNEY Scott 1978 USA 1:49.21 40.23
49 40 510498 ZUEGER Cornel 1981 SUI 1:49.51 43.97
Did not start 1st run
54 191778 PICHOT Sebastien 1981 FRA
52 103090 HELIE Louis-Pierre 1986 CAN
Did not finish 1st run
57 420148 KARLSEN Truls Ove 1975 NOR
46 51232 HERZOG Mario 1986 AUT
36 292291 THANEI Stefan 1981 ITA
29 500150 JAERBYN Patrik 1969 SWE
24 50858 STREITBERGER Georg 1981 AUT
4 530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA
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