Alpine - Chamonix & Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Chamonix – Men’s Downhill (Friday race, the replacement for the cancelled Val Gardena event; the one abandoned with 2 Frenchmen leading!). A very cold day – minus 15 at the start “warming” to a balmy -11 at the finish according to the official figures! Slight wind in some areas, with variable visibility – a tricky day for the technicians, who need to get the kit properly prepared; even more critical today than normal. Line up of 66 starters from 21 nations; first away is Germany’s Stephan Keppler and he’s an early contender for “escape of the day”, but gets safely down. Peter Fill (Ita) set what looked a competitive time, but Jan Hudec (Can) beat it by a massive 1.34 seconds; green at the initial split and building all the way down. Quite cloudy/misty at the top, which can’t help anyone! Hannes Reichelt (Aut) was well in touch on the upper section, but couldn’t keep it and went second by 0.4 seconds. Huge pressure on the French to do well this weekend, and perhaps it got to Theaux, who was arguably lucky not to end up in the netting.

On to the “big guns” and Joachim Puchner (Aut) has been on good form lately – he is the closest yet to Hudec, going 2nd by 0.18; good effort. Eric Guay (Can) looked off the pace on the upper section, but started to come back in the middle to take the lead by 0.09 – Canada one and two at present; great work by them and also by their technicians. Speaking of pressure from the media, the Austrians still haven’t won a World Cup downhill this year, but Klaus Kröll is doing his best to rectify that today and goes first despite a few moments en route! The North Americans struck back with Bode Miller (USA) who was very fast at the top; looked good but a tiny mistake cost him time and he went 2nd by only 0.01! Romed Baumann (Aut) was very similar to Bode – fast at the top but a fraction slower at the end – into joint 3rd with Guay. Didier Cuche (Swi) was seeking a third successive downhill win – his run was very aggressive with the light flickering between red and green all the way – eventually 0.04 slower than Kröll and into third – all VERY close at the top, only 0.17 seconds between 1st and 6th. Looked as though Yannick Bertrand (Fra) might have caused an upset, but again he was slightly off the pace lower down – even so 9th, and best of the French so far. Quite a few skiers are now skiing the top sector more quickly, but lower down seems to be the critical section where it all goes away. Fog is also thickening and the course is getting rougher too; however a good run from Erik Fisher (USA). So, Klaus Kröll takes the win (relief all round in the Austrian coaching ranks) by 0.01 from Bode Miller with Didier Cuche in 3rd 0.04 back. Baumann and Guay were joint 4th ahead of Jan Hudec – good day for Canada too! Another men’s downhill from here tomorrow.

Women’s Downhill – Kandahar at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Saturday): Flat light today and VERY cold (officially; minus 22!), although there is some sunshine too for the 49 starters, some of whom are very taped up and/or using face masks – even harder than usual to see any face. The early lead swaps with each of the first 3 starters in turn; then we settle with Nadja Kamer (Sui) in the lead for a while. Marie Marchand-Arvier (Fra) was very impressive in practice but the form wasn’t there on race day, and Anja Pärson (Swe) was also not at her best – Kamer’s time is looking good! More names fall by the wayside and then it’s Lindsey Vonn, still looking for win number 50 – she’s in touch at Int 1, dropping back at Int 2 but then faster and goes green at Int 4 – into the lead by 0.41 seconds. Daniela Merighetti (Ita) has a good run, into current third place, then it’s Lizzy Görgl (Aut), also very fast in training, but losing time lower to go 4th. Tina Weirather (Lie) is impressive too, holding at about 0.1 back on Vonn’s time until Int 4 when it drifts the wrong way – but still good enough for current 3rd. Tina Maze (Slo) is surprisingly not a contender today, and on her home hill Maria Höfl-Riesch (die Lokalmatadorin) can only manage 4th. No surprises later, so Lindsey gets her 50th World Cup win (and maybe it’s her first downhill win on the Kandahar?) from Nadja Kamer (great run given her early start number) and Tina Weirather. Maria H-R was 4th ahead of Merighetti and Görgl.

Eurosport then swapped to the men’s 15 Km freestyle cross country from Rybinsk (Russia, and also very cold), which is a bonus (an exciting dash for the finish between Germany, Russia and Canada with Devon Kershaw [Can] getting his first World Cup win ahead of Ilya Chernousov [Rus] and Tobias Angerer [Ger]), before going over to Chamonix for the second Men’s Downhill of the weekend – more of Nick’s excruciating pronunciation! Another very cold day when ski preparation is perhaps even more crucial than normal, and more face tape! An early lead for Marc Gisin (Swi) from start number 3 (same as Kamer!). A better day for Andrej Sporn (Slo) today – bit disappointing yesterday but into the lead today by 0.21 seconds; alas Didier Defago (Swi) was disappointed again today. Adrien Theaux (Fra) had a good run but a tiny mistake left him 0.03 behind Sporn’s time – another very close race in prospect? Patrik Küng had a nasty fall; soon up on his feet and hopefully OK. The French were obviously hoping for a home win; Theaux had already come close but Johan Clarey went one better (or 2 actually) and managed to go into top position by 0.04. However it’s a short lived lead as Didier Cuche (Swi) stays just in the green all the way – his lead is 0.13, but it’s by no means over yet. Again a short spell in the winner’s slot as Beat Feuz (Swi), despite having had his wisdom teeth removed earlier in the week (they’re tough these guys), had a much better run than yesterday and spoilt Cuche’s day – great lead of 0.36. Klaus Kröll (Aut) was after the double and made a great start; not good enough to take Feuz but he splits the Swiss beating close rival Cuche by 0.03 seconds. Next down was Eric Guay (Can – for no reason at all not my favourite), who in turn took the lead until Romed Baumann took it back for Austria. An exciting run by Bode Miller (USA) but only good enough for 6th. Nick Fellowes is just opining that Rossignol skis aren’t running so well here, when Jan Hudec (Can) blasts down the hill on his Rossignols to take the lead by a massive 0.53 seconds – curse of the commentator in reverse? Anyway that’s the top 30 down with Hudec in the lead ahead of Baumann and Guay; Feuz is 4th, Kröll 5th and Cuche 6th – good day for Canada (and once more, while I have massive respect for the actual racers, credit too to their technicians), and a fair day for both Austria and Switzerland. LATE NEWS - it's an even better day for Canada as Benjamin Thomsen from start number 50 managed to get into 5th place, dropping Kröll into 6th!!

Men’s Super-Combination (Chamonix Sunday): Another day in the freezer – it’s minus 23 on the downhill course, despite some sunshine – very scenic! The perceived wisdom is that today’s event will favour the downhill specialists rather than the dedicated slalom types, especially as it requires considerable gliding skill. The piste looks in good condition today, a credit to the teams who have been working on it over this weekend. First of the major contenders is Romed Baumann (Aut) who is 2.6 seconds faster than the previous best time. Bode Miller tries a new line and, as usual, pushes the limit – very exciting but this time it doesn’t pay off – fall and out, but hopefully he’s OK. Theaux (Fra) and Paris (Ita) both get within a second of the best time; now it’s Ivica Kostelic (Cro), the favourite for the combined events, but he’s 2.81 seconds back today after this part of the discipline – however, he has come back from a 3 second deficit to win before, in Wengen; might depend on how well the slalom course holds up? Beat Feuz (Swi) must have been disappointed with his time, just over 1.5 seconds off the pace despite his downhill ability – lots to do in the slalom, and Svindal (Nor) was also surprisingly slow today – obviously a great run from Baumann! Maybe conditions are getting a little slower - Janka (Swi) and Defago (Swi) are slower than their form might suggest, and Romar (Fin) lives dangerously staying inside 2 seconds! Puchner (Aut) joins Feuz in joint 4th, but even that’s 1.5 seconds off the leader. That’s the top 30 down – Baumann leads from Theaux and Paris, with starter 31, Hannes Reichelt (Aut), nipping into 4th – Kostelic is 18th at present, so not that far back in position and well up on some other slalom specialists. More later but for now its over to the Bavarian Alps …

Women’s Super G (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Sunday): The course is just over 2 Km long, with 42 gates and 54 starters expected. Slightly warmer than yesterday – only minus 19 today! First down is Tina Weirather (Lie); quite a useful time too! Three in a row then ski out at the same point, tricky gate layout from the French coach, and although Rebensburg (Ger) gets down, she’s having problems and so is off the pace. Curtoni (Ita) is much neater and gets through the tricky section to go 2nd – 7 starters, only 3 finishers so far! News of the “awkward bit” seems to have been passed back by the coaches as more athletes are now finishing, but Tina W remains fastest until Julia Mancuso (USA, start number 17) nails it to take the lead away. Maria H-R bumps Curtoni off the podium but Anna Fenninger (Aut) is faster and goes into 2nd, just 0.13 behind Mancuso. Slight pause while a gate is repaired; that possibly didn’t help Lindsey Vonn who had a couple errors while pushing very hard and then missed a gate – unusual! Tina Maze also went out – “leaving her timing behind in the start hut”, as ZDF put it (I think); 6 DNFs so far. The top 30 are now down – Mancuso leads from Fenninger, Weirather, Höfl-Riesch, Curtoni & Marchand-Arvier; 8 DNFs now with the number increasing rapidly as the higher start numbers go, but no change to the top 6. Back at the podium, the American supporters are happy, even if it’s probably not the winner they might have expected!

Men’s Super Combi – Run 2: No commentary for this, and with 10 of the top 30 (going in reverse order from their downhill position) down the course Alexis Pinturault (Fra) is leading. Here comes Kostelic; he starts about 0.4 seconds up, fast but it’s also wild and risky; he ends up 0.34 down in 2nd – quite a surprise! As we move through the start list for this 2nd run, of course, we also move towards competitors who are perhaps more downhill specialists – Christof Innerhofer is 0.95 ahead at the start, but loses time in the lower section to go 4th; Janka loses his advantage even faster, but Peter Fill (Ita) gets into 3rd! Aksel Lund Svindal (Nor) always seems to be not ideally built for slalom, but he’s very neat here and goes 2nd. Didier Defago may have been disappointed with his downhill, but his slalom is pretty good and he takes 3rd away from Kostelic, by just 2 hundredths. Next down is Beat Feuz – very handy and he goes into 2nd just 0.09 back on Alexis; should help his overall points. Reichelt loses half his advantage by Int 1, and by Int 2 he’s in the red; Paris is similar and then misses a gate. Theaux starts over 2.5 seconds clear – it slips away but to the delight of the French crowd he has enough left to get into 3rd. Just Romed Baumann to go, and he starts with 3.27 seconds advantage from his brilliant downhill – as you’d expect he loses time, but takes the lead by a respectable 1.10 seconds – a great win. Baumann in first, then Pinturault and Feuz; Kostelic in 7th