Wengen, Switzerland – Italian Christof Innerhofer took the win on Saturday in the fabled Lauberhorn, one of the most punishing downhills on the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup. A pair of Austrian racers – Klaus Kroell and Hannes Reichelt – completed the podium in second and third, respectively. Canada’s Erik Guay came agonizingly close to the podium in fourth.

Innerhofer’s time was over five seconds faster then Swiss ski racer’s Beat Feuz’s winning time from 2012.

“I skied a run like never before, I can definitely say that,” Innerhofer said.

“Innerhofer skied the key turns flawlessly,” acknowledged Marco Sullivan, of Squaw Valley, Calif., who led the U.S. Ski Team in Wengen on Saturday, finishing 13^th. “He told me that when he was in the start he had a feeling that he has never had before. He wanted to risk everything and he did not care of the consequences. In other words he was in the zone and he executed his plan. Congrats to him, it is always a special thing to see racers win on these classic downhills.”

“I’m pretty satisfied with this,” said Guay, the reigning World downhill champion from Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, who finished 1.15 seconds back of Innerhofer. “You always want the podium when you are fourth but my best previous result here was when I was eighth last year. I had a good, solid run and I skied really well.”

Travis Ganong, also of Squaw Valley, was 21^st. Park City’s Ted Ligety did not ski the downhill but caught a break when World Cup overall challenger Aksel Lund-Svindal of Norway lost a ski after landing the Hundschopf jump and crashed into the safety nets, walking away uninjured. Heber, Utah’s Steven Nyman also went out, as did Andrew Weibrecht, of Lake Placid, N.Y.  Lauberhorn rookie Jared Golderg, of Holladay, Utah, just missed World Cup points awarded to the top 30 finishers.

“It was a smart thing for Ted (Ligety) to take today off, especially when you look at the loads that will come in the next few weeks,” said U.S. Ski Team coach Sasha Rearick. “We have a lot of races – it was a smart decision.

“Sully (Sullivan) skied pretty good. It’s more points for him. He’s moving up in the points step by step,” Rearick added. “He could have skied faster in a few areas by skiing a little cleaner. The light got flatter and flatter for the guys in the back like Goldberg. But he did a good job especially for the first time here. He’s showing the right stuff. Travis (Ganong) skied really good at the top and also at the bottom, but he had a few mistakes through the middle section that he just couldn’t get the time back.”

Action continues at Wengen with a slalom on Sunday.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Lauberhorn Downhill – Wengen, Switzerland – Jan. 19, 2013
Men’s Downhill