Bormio, Italy – Austria’s Michael Walchhofer clinched the victory in Wednesday’s Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill ski race in Bormio. Walchhofer finished with a time of 1:59.66, a mere .08 seconds ahead of second place finisher Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland, last week’s surprise winner in the Val Gardena downhill. Italy’s Christof Innerhofer, the 2008 Bormio downhill winner, completed the podium in third.nBode Miller, of Franconia, N.H., led a U.S. trio into the top 20 with an eighth place finish on the Stelvio track in Bormio, known amongst the racers as one of the most strenuous, if not the most strenuous course on the World Cup circuit. Heber, Utah’s Steven Nyman finished 11th, his best World Cup result since Val Gardena in 2008, and World Cup rookie Travis Ganong, of Squaw Valley, Calif., was 20th for his career best finish and first World Cup downhill points.
Despite having teammate Marco Sullivan injured in Tuesday’s downhill training, Miller, Nyman and Ganong showed their focus and strength on race day. Erik Fisher, of Middleton, Idaho, and Lake Placid, N.Y.’s Andrew Weibrecht were also on the injured reserve list with injuries sustained prior to Bormio.
“All three guys kept their focus and cool with Sully in the hospital,” said U.S. Ski Team Men’s Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “Virgil [Chris Brigham, Head Speed Coach] did a great job keeping the guys focused on the task at hand.”
Nyman led the surge kicking out of the start gate first onto a clean course. He proved he is 100 percent healthy, crossing the finish line with a career best 11th in Bormio.
“I was actually pretty psyched with starting first because all last year I never drew in the top seven and had a clean course. Starting one I could see what I needed to do and was feeling more and more confident in myself,” said Nyman.
“Here it doesn’t really matter. Some courses you need to have a really run-in track and it would be a lot faster. But here it’s all technical and all turny. It was nice to go and get it out of the way. I didn’t have to wait around and I didn’t have to think,” he said. “I actually showed up to the start late and pretty much ripped my clothes off, stepped in my bindings and went.”
Miller was the next U.S. man to push out of the gate laying it on the line in true Bode Miller fashion. Showing he’s still one of the fastest guys on tour, Miller was nailing the top sections before a few mistakes cost him some time bumping him back to eighth in the overall results.
“Bode skied some parts well, but had some mistakes. He did lose some time before San Pedro. His ski hooked up on him and he had to release his ski and at the bottom he leaned in,” explained Rearick.
Bormio first-timer Ganong took to the challenging hill next, despite admitting Bormio was the stop about which he was most nervous all season.
“This hill is crazy. It’s a real deal downhill, bumpy, fast, icy and dark. It’s just tough skiing from top to bottom and I came through today,” said Ganong. “In my mind this is the toughest hill, but it turns out I really like it. It’s really turny and suits my more technical style.”
For the Canadian Alpine Ski Team, Manuel Osborne-Paradis, of North Vancouver, British Columbia, closed the year with a 13th place. His career best result on the Stelvio course was last year’s 10th place.
“My race felt decent. Not the best, not the worst. I mean, I say this every year, but it’s something I can build on. I’m skiing good enough now and we have a good enough coaching staff that I can really sit down and talk with them and work on the races. Last year we were working on the Olympics so much, but now we can really get down and focus on each race individually,” said Osborne-Paradis.
“I’m excited for the New Years break. I’m pretty burnt out right now. I’m excited to go back and see my friends and get back to normal life for a few days,” he added. “Then I’ll be ready to come back and throw the hammer down in January, because that’s the month I own.”
The second fastest Canadian was Jan Hudec of Calgary, who finished 18th.
“At the end of the day, I definitely had a way better effort than I did during the training runs. I definitely laid down a good run, I was on top of the line I wanted to be on. I made a few little mistakes, but that’s what happens in skiing,” said Hudec, who finished in third place in the 2007 Bormio downhill event. “I was six seconds out first training, four seconds out second training, and two seconds out today with a few mistakes. I’m just happy that I got a few points and hopefully that will get me in the top 30.
“Training runs were brutal. It’s a super tough track, extremely physically demanding. I usually like to just kind of get the feel of a course during training, but here you can’t really do that because you’re just getting rocked the whole way,” added Hudec. “The whole way down your legs are just telling you to rest, but you have to tell yourself ‘I can rest in the finish’.”
Canadian rookie Benjamin Thompson, of Invermere, British Columbia, who had an amazing result last week in Val Gardena’s downhill event with a 16th place, finished Wednesday’s event in 42nd. The fourth Canadian to take part in the race was Robbie Dixon of Whistler, British Columbia, who was not able to finish the race.
“There was one little tricky spot there where maybe I should have given myself extra room – I think it’s been throwing a few guys off today – and I just kind of caught my ski, it put me in the back seat, and I couldn’t regain it and spun out. I’m a little banged up, a little beat up, but I’m still standing, so it’s all good,” said Dixon.
The U.S. Alpine Ski Team’s speed crew will return stateside for a break before heading back to Europe for the second half of the World Cup circuit. Part two will kick off with the famed Lauberhorn races at Wengen, Switzerland Jan. 11-14.
The next stop on the World Cup tour is Munich, Germany Jan. 2, for a parallel slalom city event.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Bormio, Italy – Dec. 29, 2010
Downhill
1. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 1:59.66
2. Silvan Zurbriggen, Switzerland, 1:59.74
3. Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 2:00.02
4. Patrick Kueng, Switzerland, 2:00.26
5. Georg Streitberger, 2:00.62