ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. CHAMONIX, FRANCE – With Mont Blanc looming high above the 1924 Olympic host city of Chamonix, Didier Cuche skied faster, seemingly flew through the air higher, and was clearly stronger than the world’s best downhillers. For the second consecutive Saturday, the 36-year-old Swiss convincingly crushed the field, this time winning on the 3370-meter La Verte Des Houches piste by 0.67 seconds.

“I really caught from top-to-bottom the line that I was inspecting in the morning,” said Cuche who grabbed his ninth career downhill victory. “I had so much confidence from the victory in Kitzbühel to not think too much and just ski the line I wanted.”

Cuche nailed the tricky and icy right-handed Carousel turn near the top while also soaring through the air in a compact position on both the Cassure and Goulet jumps. His skis ran extremely well as he continually made up more time in his tight tuck on the lower, gliding sections of the course.

"It's hard to be consistent on different downhill courses, but I felt I had a pretty perfect run today," said Cuche, who picked up his 16th career World Cup triumph. "It's nice to win for the first time at somewhere that you haven't, but to succeed is the most important thing. I still have many goals left in skiing."

Cuche also was victorious on French snow for the first time since he won gold in super-G at the FIS World Championships in Val d'Isere in February of 2009.

Despite Cuche’s dominance, much of the day’s limelight belonged to a 21-year-old Italian, who had never finished better than 14th in a World Cup race before today. Starting first out of the gate on a cold, windy and sunny early afternoon, Dominik Paris laid down what would be the run of his life, clocking 1:59.58.

It appeared that a shocking victory could possibly be in the cards for Paris until Cuche sped down the mountain 21 racers later, knocking the excited Italian down one place, while displaying near perfection yet again.

“It was very great for me, a good run,” said a smiling Paris in the finish area. “I tried to go faster-and-faster and I was fast today. I’m so happy.”

Paris’ best result this season was 17th at a downhill in Bormio in December. At last February’s Olympics in Vancouver he was 13th in the super combined, a discipline he will compete in tomorrow.

“Now my best place is second, that’s so cool,” said Paris, who is from Merano-Lana, in Italy's South Tyrol.

Along with third place finisher, Klaus Kroell of Austria, who was 0.88 off the winner's pace, Paris spent considerable time in the leader’s box joking with the veteran Cuche.

“He said to me, ‘you’re crazy and you went so fast today,’” said Paris about his chat with the Swiss victor. “And he said he had to make such a good run to beat me.”

Cuche – who like a fine wine, seems to get better with age – became the first racer from Switzerland ever to win a World Cup downhill in Chamonix.

Canada's Manuel Osborne-Paradis, starting 20th, lost his left edge on the lower, mostly flat, Bosse du Covagnet section of the course, launched into the air and crashed on his backside resulting in a slide into the safety netting. Evacuated by helicoper to a nearby hospital, he was diagnosed with a broken left fibula and either broken or bruised ribs. it appears that there was no damage to the head or knees.

"It looked like a pretty innocent fall and that Manny was just a little bit unlucky," said Osborne-Paradis' teammate, Erik Guay. "He just leaned in and his ski caught in a funny way, but it was the same place that Scheiber (who crashed in training on Thurday) went down as well, so there is something tricky there obviously. Apparently, he was cracking jokes while in the helicopter so it seems like he'll be ok."

Osborne-Paradis was later transferred to a Geneva hospital to undergo more thorough examinations.

Austria's Georg Streitberger also lost control and fell about 1:20 into his run resulting in a long slide on the course. After a short delay, he rose to his feet and slowly walked away from the incident, apparently without any significant injuries.

The top Frenchman at Saturday's home race was Yannick Bertrand who ended sixth, just 0.22 seconds from attaining his first career podium.

"I was very nervous at the start, but now I'm so happy with my finish here in France," said the 30-year-old racer from Thonon Les Bains, which is about an hour from Chamonix. "My parents, my sister, my brother, everybody is here. In the last turn, I made a little mistake, but I'm just happy."

For his efforts Saturday, Cuche, who is seeking a fourth career downhill title, earned 35,000 Swiss Francs and increased his lead in the World Cup downhill standings to 65-points ahead of Austria’s Michael Walchhofer, who was fifth, 1.01 seconds slower. Third-place finisher Kroell is fourth in the standings, 100-points behind Cuche.

The Swiss veteran also climbed to second place in the overall standings passing teammate Silvan Zurbriggen and Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, but still trails Croatian leader, Ivica Kostelic. 1078-673.

A super combined is on the docket for tomorrow concluding the 2011 Kandahar races in Chamonix. Defending champion Bode Miller, will not compete as he is resting in California in preparation for the FIS World Championships starting on February 8th in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

By Brian Pinelli
FISalpine.com
Saturday 29 January 2011