ALPINE:

Guay 2nd, Osborne-Paradis 7th in Chamonix test run

Jan. 28, 2011

CHAMONIX, France ― Canada placed two racers in the top seven in men's downhill training Friday at Chamonix, France.

Erik Guay was second, just .01 off of training leader Michael Walchhofer of Austria, who completed the run in 2 minutes, 2.65 seconds down the 3.37-kilometer (2.09-mile) La Verte course in the French Alps. Manny Osborne-Paradis was seventh.

Klaus Kroell of Austria, quickest in Thursday's training, was third, followed by Switzerland's Didier Cuche, France's Yannick Bertrand and World Cup overall points leader Ivica Kostelic of Croatia.

Cuche, who won the downhill on the Streif course at Kitzbühel last weekend, was .41 seconds adrift in fourth.

Cuche leads the World Cup downhill standings with 279 points, but Walchhofer is only 10 points behind in third.

The men race downhill Saturday and super-combined Sunday.

Guay has bib No. 11 going into Saturday's downhill race.

"Thursday was a tough day so it was good to go out there and get my confidence back up," said Guay of finishing second Friday. "After today I'm feeling good and I'm ready to challenge."

Guay put together two solid results in Kitzbühel last weekend in his return from a back injury. The 29-year-old said he's happy to be starting 11th and is hoping the weather cooperates after experiencing strong winds during training.

"I think it's the earlier, the better tomorrow," he said of his starting position. "I feel I'm skiing technically strong. I just have to go out there and do it."

Osborne-Paradis followed up a 29th-place finish during Thursday's training run with the seventh-fastest run on Friday. He will wear bib No. 20 Saturday.

"I feel pretty good," said Osborne-Paradis. "I'm getting to the front of the boot and just trying to get over this slump. I need to find my stride before World Championships."

Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., who has been in impressive form in recent weeks, was 28th in training on Thursday and 50th Friday. He will start 49th Saturday.

Head coach Paul Kristofic said it was good to see Osborne-Paradis and Guay, in particular, skiing so well.

"They are picking up the pace nicely. It's definitely a shot in the arm," he said. "Now we are in a much better position to challenge for a result."

Kristofic said while it's important not to read too much into training results, the team is upbeat ahead of Saturday's downhill.

"It definitely makes you go into the race feeling confident," he said. "At least they are in the game and for sure, that's positive."

Ryan Semple, who was due to race this weekend, will instead return to Canada after suffering a knee injury during training on Thursday.

Semple, of Mont-Tremblant, Que., crashed during his run and injured his MCL. The 28-year-old does not require surgery but is unlikely to return to competitive action this season.

"He's going to require extensive rehabilitation in Canada," said Dr. Stephen French, medical co-director for Alpine Canada.

Semple, who was 11th in the World Cup combined event in Kitzbühel last weekend, was due to take part in Sunday's super-combined race in Chamonix.

Calgary's Jan Hudec, who tweaked his back during the warm-up in Kitzbühel, has responded well to treatment. He is due to rejoin the team in Europe sometime this weekend.

CBC's main network will be screening Saturday's downhill race at 2 p.m. ET. CBC Bold and CBCSports.ca will also have live coverage from 5:55 a.m. ET. The women's downhill at Sestriere is being shown on the main network Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. If that race is canceled, CBC will instead screen last week's super-G from Cortina d'Ampezzo. S-Magazine
 
— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Chamonix men's World Cup downhill training No. 2 results