ALPINE:

Walchhofer best in Bormio, Osborne-Paradis, Hudec top 20

Dec. 29, 2010

BORMIO, Italy ― Michael Walchhofer of Austria added another victory to his farewell season Wednesday, becoming the first skier to win the grueling World Cup downhill on the Stelvio course three times.

Walchhofer clocked 1 minute, 59.66 seconds on the circuit's most physically demanding layout for his third victory this season and the 18th of his career.

Bode Miller, who is still seeking his first win of the season, finished eighth on a course where he's had two downhill victories. Miller was on pace for a podium spot but went slightly off line in the lower section, when racers' legs are burning from the constant turns and bumps.

Having done no speed training over the summer, Miller is still not satisfied with his equipment.

"It's all about the setup," he said. "If you're not comfortable with your setup, it's tough to execute."

Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland was the only other skier to break 2 minutes, finishing just 0.08 seconds behind. Christof Innerhofer of Italy was third in sunny and cold conditions with the temperature hovering just below the freezing level.

Manny Osborne-Paradis was 13th to lead the Canadians, with Jan Hudec 18th and Ben Thomsen 42nd. Robbie Dixon did not finish his run.

"Winning three times on this difficult slope — maybe the most technical course on the circuit — really means a lot to me," Walchhofer said. "It's a perfect start to the season."

Retired Austrian great Hermann Maier won four races overall on the Stelvio, but only two downhills. Miller has three victories here, with two in downhill.

While most skiers were bent over in exhaustion upon crossing the finish line, the 35-year-old Walchhofer had enough energy for a celebration that included a few quick slalom turns before he came to a stop.

"I didn't do so well in training and I wasn't enjoying myself. So this morning after inspection, I went back to my hotel room and just told myself to have fun and it worked," Walchhofer said.

Walchhofer's two other downhill wins in Bormio came on consecutive days in 2006.

Zurbriggen, who won his first career downhill in Val Gardena this month, took the lead in the overall standings from American Ted Ligety, who skipped this race. Zurbriggen leads with 395 points, one in front of Walchhofer and 74 ahead of Ligety.

"I'm really satisfied with myself with such a great season," said Zurbriggen, who had contemplated skipping this race. "I just decided to come a few days ago, and I guess I made the right decision."

Having won two of the three races so far, Walchhofer holds a 15-point lead over Zurbriggen in the downhill standings.

Steven Nyman of United States was 11th, and teammate Travis Ganong was 20th.

Two other Austrians who skied right after Walchhofer didn't finish.

Klaus Kroell was on pace for the podium before he fell and slid down head-first for several hundred yards, bloodying his face but apparently suffering no other injuries.

Mario Scheiber was faster than Walchhofer through the middle split, then missed a gate. Dixon also fell and reported bruises, but no serious injuries.

Dixon said, "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.

Osborne-Paradis, who came out of the gate with bib number 16, covered the 3.27 kilometers race course in 2: 01.27 seconds. 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 Year's 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," added the 26-year-old. "Then I'll be ready to come back and throw the hammer down in January, because that's the month I own."

Hudec finished 18th with a time of 2:01.80.

"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. "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," said 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'."

Wednesday's race can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet from 7-8 p.m. ET Wednesday night.

The men's World Cup tour will resume with a city event in Munich on Jan. 2. Following that will be a slalom event in Zagreb, Croatia, later in the week. S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Bormio men's World Cup downhill results