GAP 2011. GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – The Kandahar slope was frostier on Monday morning than it’s been so far these world championships for the super-combined downhill race and though conditions were once again hard and bumpy, Aksel Lund Svindal was on a mission to defend his title.

The Norwegian who won gold in the world champs super-combi in 2009 and was a bit sore from Saturday’s downhill race, in which he finished fifth but crash-landed into the finish barrier, is leading after the downhill portion of the race. Blazing down the Kandahar in 1 minute, 59.49 seconds, Svindal is more than a second faster than everyone besides Switzerland’s Beat Feuza, who is sitting in second place, 0.63 seconds back.

“I wish I managed this race on [Saturday],” Svindal said after the run, adding that he believes that Ondrej Bank – who is in fifth place, 1.11 seconds back and sixth place Sylvan Zurbriggen, 1.22 seconds back, will be his most dangerous opponents going into the slalom portion of the race. He also said he wasn’t able to train slalom as planned on Sunday because he was with his physical therapist, making sure his shoulder and right knee were OK.

“I’m not sure how my slalom form is, so we’ll see,” he said.

Following Beat, whose best super-combi/combined result on the World Cup is 10th (in Kitzbuehel and Chamonix this season), Italian Christof Innerhofer is lighting the place up again, sitting in third but 1.18 seconds out although he finished fourth at the World Cup super-combined in Wengen this year and has podiumed twice in the discipline in 2009 and 2007. Sitting in fourth place so far, fellow Italian Peter Fill – who also has two super-combi – is 1.34 seconds out.

Finland’s Andreas Romar, whose best results on the World Cup are in super-combined, but never better than 15th, fired into seventh place after the downhill run on Monday and has1.70 seconds to make up in the slalom.

The rest of the field is more than two seconds back, beginning with eighth place Paris Dominik, Kevin Rigail Esteve of Andorra – who has never scored any points on the World Cup – in ninth and Bode Miller in 10th.

World Cup super-combined and overall leader Ivica Kostelic, who took bronze in last week’s super G but skipped the downhill to keep his knees healthy, also opted out of Monday’s race.

The slalom kicks off at 14:00 at Gudiberg in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

by Shauna Farnell
FISalpine.com
Monday 14 February 2011