Another bit of Alpine (inc 24-26 Feb)

Firstly a couple brief updates from last weekend - Men’s Super Combi (Sochi): Missed the downhill section, but a quite similar leader board to the previous day’s downhill? Beat Feuz (Swi) was again fastest, ahead of Adrien Theaux (Fra). This time Dominik Paris (Ita) was third, but Bode Miller again 4th from Carlo Janka and Max Franz. No Puchner, as he was a DNF, but the main question pre the slalom run was, where did Ivica Kostelic (Cro) end up – he was back in 15th but crucially only +1.52 seconds back – not a lot given his slalom form – a very competitive result in the speed part of this discipline (by comparison Benni Raich was +3.43); can’t help feeling this arrangement favours the slalom specialists giving them an unfair advantage in the overall competition – much discussion at present about the calendar for next year and how many Super Combis will be in – not surprisingly Kostelic is all in favour of keeping these in the programme!!

Having said Benni Raich wasn’t on his normal form (after a knee injury?), he put in a blinding run on the slalom and for a good while was well in the lead. However, Ivica Kostelic (Cro) started with an advantage from the downhill of 1.91 over Benni and built on it – after the fastest slalom run he was leading by more than 2.5 seconds! I hoped Bode Miller might have been in contention, but he skied out, as did Theaux. France’s Thomas Mermillod-Blondin (I do wish they’d stop this double barrelled fad – too much typing!!) went into 2nd and with just Feuz to go that’s how it looked. Beat had a good run, but he isn’t in the same class as Kostelic on slalom skis and could only manage 2nd – final result Kostelic (who takes the first small crystal globe of the season), Feuz and Mermillod-Blondin; a hard course though as we also had 13 DNFs!

Women’s GS at Soldeu: Yet another cold one – run 1 was kicked off by Lindsey Vonn in bright sunshine – wind seemed kinder than yesterday but one error in the upper section might have cost her time? Seems it did as both Brignone (Ita) and then Tessa Worley (Fra) went faster. A bigger shock came next; Viktoria Rebensburg (Ger, and was leading the GS standings) going out on her first run – pity; she’ll have to hope her main rivals will score poorly. Worley stays the woman to beat, while Maze (Slo) and Lizzi Görgl move into possible podium places. The wind seems to be getting up again on some parts of the course? Maria Höfl-Riesch (Ger) goes into 2nd, until Manuela Mölgg (Ita), dislodges her – less than a second between the top 6 now, and Eurosport is off to Nordic – let’s hope there are no surprises! There weren’t, and run 2 was much to expectations – end result Tessa Worley (Fra) from Tina Maze (Slo) and Maria Höfl-Riesch (Ger) followed by Mölgg, Görgl and Fenninger; Vonn 8th. More detail on the FIS website

Now to this weekend:

Men’s GS at Bansko (Bulgaria): Run 1 was testing and eventful – not ideal conditions with falling snow, gusty winds and poor visibility at times. I joined the action just as Cyprien Richard (Fra), after a good looking run that far, had a massive fall – looked as if he was OK though. Recovery of the day was probably Marcel Hirscher (Aut) – if you see this you’ll know what I mean, but he survived and briefly took the lead. Ted Ligety (USA) looked less aggressive on the upper section, but was faster on the flatter lower section (where others were losing time) and beat Hirscher’s time by 0.16 seconds. Fritz Dopfer (Ger) was very unlucky with the weather – wind and thick fog, which didn’t help – quite a lottery today; if this goes on I can’t see Ted losing the lead for run 1! Romed Baumann (Aut) fell at about the same stage as Richard; conditions bad for him, but the weather gods might be American as it cleared nicely just before Bode Miller’s run! Couldn’t last though and the wind is back so they ask Bode to hold – great vis but very windy; another fall near the finish, but he did eventually cross the line! Much better visibility now, although the wind is still causing speed loss, but so far no one has taken full advantage. Although Eurosport stayed with this a little longer than planned, due to a 15 min delay at Sochi (where it's the women's turn this weekend), the positions remained pretty much the same the same for run 1 (although Grange (Fra) got into 6th late on and Janez Jazbec (Slo) went into 9th from start 37) – Ligety from Hirscher and Thomas Fanara; top 10 separated by about 1.5 seconds – so far only 3 DNFs, despite everything.

On to the second run – we miss the first few as, once again, the ski jumping overruns and Eurosport stays with it. When they condescend to return to a discipline that doesn’t interfere with the athlete’s efforts by applying wind compensation and style marks, Didier Defago (Swi) is leading on a rather trickier course, but as they go in reverse order, the top guys from run 1 are going last. Sure enough the lead changes to Marcel Mathis (Aut); although Defago is being pushed down by the later starters, Mathis’ time looks good at present and he stays in the lead; several skiers are up at intermediate 1, but their lead seems to be gone by Int 2. As time goes by, the time advantage over Mathis gets bigger, but no one seems to be able to keep it through the second intermediate and the course is getting “used”. Svindal (Nor) had over a second from run 1, but the best he can manage is second, +0.22 on the Austrian. At last – Max Blardone (Ita) takes it, but only by seven hundredths; great effort by Mathis! Very few to come now; both Raich and Fanara fall and are out – Marcel Hirscher (Aut) however is sensational – into the lead by 1.39 seconds, so massive pressure on last man Ted Ligety. Ted’s on good form, but it isn’t his day and a massive error drops him way down – Hirscher wins from Blardone and Mathis. Svindal was 4th, ahead of Reichelt and Andre Myhrer (Swe) – 3 Austrians in the top 6!

Women’s Downhill (Sochi): A testing 2,713 metre long track, dropping 790 metres and it doesn’t look nice here either! Another delay, so we can appreciate Nick Fellowes’ tortured pronunciation of names and places to the full as he fills in! Luckily it’s also on the red button BBC so I can watch from a comfier chair. Marusa Ferk (Slo) is the early leader despite a slight detour into the softer snow; it’s apparently warmer than you might expect so the course might deteriorate a little for the later starters? Obviously the US women are on form too today as Alice McKennis takes the lead – didn’t work for Leanne Smith though. Kamer (Swi) has a late fall, possibly pushing too hard on a course they haven’t had as much practice on as they hoped. Suddenly the mist on the lower sections thickens, which doesn’t help Anna Fenninger – the jury halts things for a while, and then Stacey Cook (USA) just takes the lead; USA 1 and 2. However, here come the French with first Marchand-Arvier and then Marion Rolland going fastest – now it's France 1 & 2. However – the mist lifts and conditions are easier – a couple people don’t use it but Lindsey Vonn (US, as if I needed to tell you) gets the lead by just over half a second! But, hold on, Maria Höfl-Riesch (Ger) goes another 0.59 seconds faster still; Lindsey’s face was a picture! Tina Wierather (Lie) is also looking good, but goes into third. At present if Vonn stays 2nd she’s definitely won the crystal globe for downhill today – but Lizzie Görgl (Aut) goes into 2nd – the pundits reach for their calculators, but opinion seems to be divided! Meanwhile Sejersted (Nor) has a nasty fall- skis don’t release so let’s hope she’s not hurt; seems to be up and OK – tough lady! Suddenly the times seem to be less competitive; despite the scheduled timings both BBC and Eurosport stop their coverage, the latter to go to the ski jumping part of a Nordic Combined, so we can see more wind socks and people waiting – riveting stuff, although they were soon back in action! Meanwhile, at Sochi, Zettel (Aut) nearly caused an upset, being ahead of Maria in the early stages, however she made an error lower down and ended up 26th, after which conditions deteriorated again. Nicole Schmidhofer (Aut) also “did a Zettel” starting very fast but could only manage 13th position by the end – good run by her though. With 51 starters away conditions get even worse and things grind to a halt; the jury eventually decide to stop the event but with so many safely down the results stand. So, the top 6 are Riesch, Görgl, Vonn, Weirather, Rolland and Julia Mancuso (USA). Seems, according to ZDF, that Lindsey Vonn can console herself with securing the small crystal globe for the downhill, for the 5th time (Eurosport also think this is so, and it's later confirmed by the FIS). Well done to Maria and Lindsey.

Men’s Super G (Crans Montana, 24 Feb): Early leader in this event, one rescheduled from a cancellation at Kitzbühl, was Didier Defago (Swi); several long holds between the early skiers while the referee and jury examine the snow, which seems to be rather affected by the warm conditions and breaking up even early on. Down in the valley it looks very green and Spring like; the conditions look like a late season race not one in mid February! Slowly more skiers are allowed to start and first Puchner (Aut) and then Hudec (Can) take the lead. With 7 skiers down (including 1 DNF) there are already brown patches on the course; bad fall from Viletta (Swi) but hopefully he is OK despite losing his helmet (skied down but hospital check-up required); you can now see the occasional bald patches on the track quite clearly. Seems the Swiss haven’t got the line sorted, although Zurbriggen is currently 2nd.

Now we are coming to the “big guns” but will they be able to master a rapidly deteriorating course? Another long wait before Beat Feuz comes down – but in the soft snow he’s miles off the time; doesn’t look as though you can do well with any start number beyond about 7!! There are some technically good runs, but the speed isn’t there. Well, what do I know – Didier Cuche (Swi) shows what an “old man” can do by nicking the top spot – brilliant run! A couple minutes later Benni Raich (Aut) went third – a very impressive run from him too. With 30 racers down it’s Cuche, Hudec and Raich on the podium; although there are still some interesting names to come (including Canada’s Ben Thomsen, who has provided a couple surprises this season) the course is not doing the late starters any favours. Late interest centres on Marcel Hirscher (Aut) who is now leading the overall standings (12 ahead of the injured Kostelic, and 52 up on Feuz) – this isn’t his discipline, but any points are welcome and he risks it all – fair effort and into 26th from a start number of 33, so he might get a couple points depending on how many of the other late starters bump him down (he ended up 33rd, so just outside the points!); meanwhile Feuz is in 20th, a bit disappointing for him too, although he gains a little on Hirscher in the overall standings.

Men’s Super G (Crans Montana, 25 Feb): This is the “proper” Super G for this venue; hopefully better conditions today – snow sounds a bit harder compared to yesterday’s slushy stuff! No Marcel Hirscher today – I understand his comments to the press yesterday showed a considerable respect for the “speed specialists” and he decided to sit this one out. Start number 8 is Joachim Puchner (Aut), and despite a few frights he takes the lead – despite the colder conditions the Eurosport team reckon the course is again starting to cut up quite early on; certainly looks like that is happening. Puchner’s lead doesn’t last long though as Klaus Kröll (Aut) goes 0.20 faster. Eric Guay (Can) has a lucky escape a few metres before the finish, where the snow is beginning to pile up; goodbye podium chance. The ruts and bumps are building up and it’s getting warmer again, especially lower down – however, Jan Hudec (Can) seems to like those conditions and finished 2nd yesterday – can he do it again? He’s slower at the top but pulling time back lower down - into 2nd. Benni Raich (Aut) was also on the podium yesterday, and it seems to have done wonders for his confidence – really back on form and a great line - he takes the lead, by nearly half a second. Didier Cuche (Swi) certainly gave it his best – impressive run but an error near the top just cost him too much – into 2nd by 0.36; Raich gets his revenge for yesterday! Next man down Adrien Theaux is also going well, and knocks Cuche down a place. At present it’s Raich, Theaux and Cuche as there’s a pause to work on some parts of the course. Beat Feuz (Swi) has apparently picked up a knee injury from Moscow which might explain his rather modest position yesterday; better today as he goes into 10th. Not helped by the ruts, Mario Scheiber (Aut) seems to have damaged his knee again – very bad luck for him. With the favourites down and the course really going off no one is expecting an upset, so it looks as though Benni Raich has won – apparently despite his impressive career, this will be his first Super G win! Results Raich, Theaux, Cuche, Kröll, Hudec and Puchner, subject to confirmation.

After today the overall World Cup situation is now even tighter with Feuz moving closer to Hirscher and Kostelic – however there are still 1100 points to play for and Ivica is apparently up and about after his knee operation! Predictably, with a really fascinating end to the season in prospect, the BBC have already finished their pathetic attempt at winter sport coverage! Pity, as some of the commentary on the few events they did condescend to feature was interesting stuff.

Women’s Downhill (Bansko, 25 Feb): A delayed start (by 3 hours) due to strong winds gusting across the course, but with a lowered start all seemed to be set for the event to go ahead. Still looked very windy though and it seemed to be picking up again as the rescheduled start approached – gusty too. Another delay, of 30 minutes this time – more juggling by the team at Eurosport; difficult for them. Temporarily back to Crans Montana, with a break in commentary until they can find Nick & Co; must have been a shock! Conditions there are obviously not good as the list of DNFs and DQs is growing rapidly; not worth the risk if points are not really viable? Over to Nordic Combined, where it also looks windy (but luckily this is the cross country section) so presumably no Bansko? A couple minutes later it’s confirmed that the downhill is CANCELLED – pity, and probably quite stressful for the athletes with the constant on/off and then nothing to show for it.