ALPINE:

OUR PICKS: CANADIAN HAT TRICK AT LAKE LOUISE

Nov. 22, 2010 — S-Media staff
















OPINION
As the World Cup speed season officially kicks off this week at the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup, we here at S-Media like to examine those who risk their lives throwing themselves down a mountain at 130 kph and make bold and brave predictions from the safety of our desks. 

So with the tour rolling into frigid Alberta, here is our country by country breakdown, as well as our predictions for this weekend:

Austria
The world powerhouse of ski racing has a chip on its shoulder at the best of times. But remember some the Austrian media’s critique of the Austrian men’s performance at the Olympics? Endearing terms such as “nightmare,” “debacle” and “the biggest fiasco of all time” can’t help but to light a fire under a few rear ends. Adding a little fuel to that fire would be Canada’s Erik Guay (Atomic) blowing past Michael Walchhofer (Atomic) in the final super-G of last season to steal the overall title. 

Benni Raich (Atomic) [PICTURED] might be better known for his technical prowess, but he did finish fourth in the overall super-G standings in 2010 and has landed on the Lake Louise podium three times in the past five years. Mario Scheiber (Atomic) has also been knocking on the door, finishing fifth in both the downhill and super-G  standings in 2010. He’s also no stranger to the podium at Lake Louise, having finished second in the 2006 super-G.

Canada
With the pressure and spotlight of the hometown Olympics off the back of this young team (yes, despite seeing their names for a number of years, this is a young team), 2011 will be a breakout year for the Canadians after Guay went on a post-Olympics tear to claim super-G crystal. We expect Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Rossignol) and Guay on the podium consistently this year, and we expect that 2011 will be the season when Robbie Dixon (Rossignol) [PICTURED] climbs the steps of the World Cup podium for the first time. With Jan Hudec (Rossignol) getting back to full strength, the team has some depth.

Coming back to Lake Louise in 2010 is returning to the scene of perhaps the most bittersweet day in Canadian ski racing history. On the same day Canadians placed three in the top five in 2009 super-G, including Manny O-P’s victory, John Kucera (Atomic) was lost for the season to a serious leg fracture. Johnny making his way back on snow this fall might serve inspirational for the team. Expect some strong performances at Lake Louise this year.

Italy
After a serious injury while training in Argentina in the summer of 2009, it was impressive simply to see Peter Fill (Atomic) [PICTURED] competing last season (he also provided one of the more entertaining moments of Olympics, waving to the crowd after spectacularly crashing near the finish). However, Lake Louise has always been good to Peter, as he finished third in the 2006 downhill then won the race in 2008. With a healthy Fill back on the tour, expect some strong results from Team Italy.

Werner Heel (Head) is also a threat, having finished third in the downhill standings in 2010 and second in the Lake Louise downhill last season.

Though not viewed as a skiing powerhouse, the Italians do have some depth, with some young talent coming up, and might turn some heads this year.    

Norway
On the speed side, Norway is basically one name in Aksel Lund Svindal (Head)[PICTURED]. But it’s a name that carries a lot of weight. Having come back to the World Cup circuit after a near-life-threatening injury in 2007, Svindal has been a dominant force, including winning the overall title in 2009, finishing fourth overall in 2010 and winning a gold medal (super-G), silver medal (downhill) and bronze medal (GS) at the 2010 Winter Games. Svindal also made the move this year from Atomic to Head.

Canada is a special place for Svindal, and not only because he is good friends and one-time training partners with the Canadian Cowboys. He also won the Lake Louise super-G in 2005 and 2007.

Switzerland
The Swiss provide one of the more interesting stories of the 2010-11 season. The team suffered a huge blow when 2010 Olympic champion Didier Defago (Rossignol) was lost to injury for the season after suffering a knee injury while training in Zermatt in September. On the flip side, though not a speed specialist, Daniel Albrecht (Atomic) is eying Lake Louise as his comeback race after a horrific crash in Kitzbühel that left him in a medically induced coma with brain and lung injuries.

Didier Cuche (Head) [PICTURED] continues to give all balding middle-aged men hope by continuing to defy Father Time. The 36-year-old 2010 overall downhill champion has shown no signs of slowing down. And Lake Louise has been good to Cuche — he has finished third twice in the super-G and won last year’s downhill.

Carlo Janka (Atomic) is the young speed phenom of the circuit. The 24-year-old Janka finished second to Cuche in the overall downhill standings in 2010. Janka also loves Lake Louise, having finished second in 2008 (his first World Cup podium) and third in 2009.  Between the grizzled veteran and the young phenom, Cuche and Janka provide a powerful 1-2 punch.

USA
It goes without saying that any race or season with Bode Miller (Head) [PICTURED] will provide entertainment. Miller was a dominant force in speed at the Olympics with a bronze in the downhill and a silver in the super-G. As it turned out, these were his only speed podiums of the season (talk about performance where it counts). Lake Louise has not been kind to Bode in the past five years, as the New Hampshire native has not finished on the podium since winning both the downhill and super-G in 2004.

Though not a force in downhill, Ted Ligety (Head) had sprinkled his many technical World Cup medals with a few super-G podiums. Ligety’s move from Rossignol to Head will make for an interesting subplot.

Andrew Weibrecht will definitely be the American to watch in Lake Louise. Weibrecht went from a virtual unknown to a household name in the ski world after making his first ever podium count, with a bronze at the 2010 Olympics (in fact he had only one top-10 World Cup finish prior to that, with a 10th at Beaver Creek in 2007). Pundits will be watching if the Olympics were a flash in the pan or a sign of things to come.

The Americans are know as game-day players — all you need to do is look at the team's dominance in Whistler. But Lake Louise seems to be a venue where they have struggled.

So, here are S-Media’s predictions for the 2010 men’s Winterstart World Cup.

Lake Louise downhill
1. Carlo Janka
2. Manny O-P
3. Werner Heel

Lake Louise super-G
1. Erik Guay*
2. Aksel Lund Svindal
3. Robbie Dixon**

*That’s right, we predict the streak continues.
**That’s right, we predict two Canadians on the podium.

S-Magazine