ALPINE:

Zurbriggen wins Val Gardena, Canadians place 5 in top 16

Dec. 18, 2010    

♦ Photo: Manny Osborne-Paradis, shown from earlier this season, led the Cowboys Saturday in eighth (Michel Painchaud)

VAL GARDENA, Italy — Swiss racer Silvan Zurbriggen continued his torrid early season with a victory Saturday in the men’s World Cup downhill on the classic Saslong course at Val Gardena, Italy.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON ERIK GUAY'S 3RD-PLACE EFFORT IN THE SUPER-G

Zurbriggen was joined on the podium by countryman Didier Cuche in third, with Romed Baumann of Austria placing second.

Austria just missed a podium sweep, with Klaus Kroell fourth and Michael Walchhofer, Friday’s super-G winner, fourth and fifth, respectively. With the win, Zurbriggen claimed the lead in the overall World Cup standings.

The Canadians were solid, with five racers in the top 16, most of any nation.

Manny Osborne-Paradis led the charge in eighth. Robbie Dixon surged to 10th while Erik Guay, who handed Canada its first alpine podium of the season Friday by placing third, was 12th on Saturday.

Louis-Pierre Helie skied to 13th and Ben Thomsen had his best career result, in 16th. Jan Hudec continues his grind back to the elite pack with a 44th-place effort.

Bode Miller, 17th, was the top American, one spot ahead of teammate Steven Nyman, who is rounding back into form after injuries.

Zurbriggen clocked 1 minute, 57.21 seconds, edging Austria's Baumann by .06 seconds on a fast, bumpy track.

Cuche, the defending World Cup downhill champion, was third, trailing his Swiss teammate by 0.10.

The 29-year-old Zurbriggen had never previously finished on the podium in a World Cup downhill. He punched both fists in the air repeatedly in the finish area after taking the lead from Cuche.

"It's something crazy, unbelievable. I'm very, very happy and I had a superb run," said Zurbriggen, whose only previous World Cup victory came two seasons ago in the combined event at Kitzbühel, Austria.

Zurbriggen won Olympic bronze in super-combined in Vancouver, when Miller won gold, but had the reputation as an all-purpose racer rather than speed specialist.

Walchhofer, the prerace favourite from Austria, was 0.35 back in fifth after winning the super-G on Friday.

Zurbriggen's 100 points for the victory lifted him above Walchhofer atop the overall standings, with a 315-294 advantage.

Zurbriggen has a 150-145 edge in the downhill discipline standings after two races. Walchhofer won at Lake Louise, Canada, last month when Zurbriggen was fourth.

Cuche, twice a runner-up in the Saslong classic, was denied a victory he thought was his after Walchhofer was the last top-ranked downhill specialist to race.

The 36-year-old Cuche could not bear to watch his great Austrian rival race. He assumed a prayer position on his knees with his head down, then rose with a shout of delight when Walchhofer crossed the line.

"I was expecting it was enough (to win)," Cuche said. "But in Val Gardena you always have to wait for the last racer and the course was in perfect condition."

The Canadians missed the podium but made a loud, deep statement.

“Obviously, I would have loved to have won again, but that's how it goes,” said Osborne-Paradis, last year's Saslong downhill winner. “But for us to have five Canadians in the top 16 though, that's a good day for the team. The Young Bucks scored World Cup points. That's huge.
 
“I feel good right now, I like my equipment, I like everything. I just need to push it down. With how I was skiing in Beaver Creek, with how I know I'm going to ski in Bormio, I'm just adding more races to my repertoire. It's making the overall easier. At some point these races will come and hopefully I'll be able to just stay on the podium every weekend.”

Helie had a career-best performance by finishing in 13th place with a time of 1:58.43. He had managed to crack the top 30 at a World Cup event only once before when he finished 22nd at the 2009 Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart downhill race.

“You know what, that was unbelievable. I just charged from the start to the finish. I attacked really well,” said the 24-year-old Helie. “I couldn't ask for more right now. I made a few mistakes, but I really attacked like I know I can. I'm really happy about that, because I've been struggling a little bit lately. This is the best race of my life. Even with the mistakes, I'm right in there. This is great,”

Thomsen finished in a career-best 16th place as he crossed the finish line with a time of 1:58.73. Thomsen is making his way up the ranks on the World Cup circuit quickly, as this was only his seventh World Cup start.

Guay finished in 12th place with a time of 1:58.18.

“It was a pretty sweet day,” Guay said. “I know for myself finishing 12th in downhill is good, it's my best result of the year. But the big thing today was having those young guys come from the back and pop in there to the top 16. It was a pretty epic day for us. Today was a Cowboys day. To have the Young Bucks Ben and Louis get their first World Cup points was impressive.”

The Canadian speed team’s best performance was in 2009 at the Kvitfell, Norway, downhill event where four skiers ranked in the top 10.

Saturday's race can be seen live on www.cbc.ca and on CBC’s Alpine Ski Series at 2 p.m. ET as well as Radio-Canada from 12:30 to 2 p.m. ET.

The men’s races continue this weekend in Alta Badia, Italy, with a giant slalom race. S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Val Gardena men's World Cup downhill results