Hans Grugger back at the top

Manuèle Lang 11.03.2007 12:57 Uhr

Austria's Hans Grugger achieved an impressive comeback today in Kvitfjell where he dominated the last Super-G race prior the Finals at Lenzerheide.

The 25-year-old skier from Badgastein, who won a Super-G race back in December 2005 prior a bad crash in downhill at Bormio, came from almost nowhere to beat by 72/100 of a second his team-mate Mario Scheiber after an aggressive run down the "Olympic" course.

Switzerland's Didier Cuche, who snatched the downhill World Cup standings on Saturday with a brilliant victory, came in 3rd at 91/100 and moved up to 2nd place in the Overall rankings less than 100 points from leader Benjamin Raich.

The defending Overall Champion, who captured the Super-combined races here on Friday, skied out in the final part of the course as well as Aksel Lund Svindal, Canada's Erik Guay or Switzerland's Silvan Zurbriggen.

Michael Walchhofer, 4th in the downhill on Saturday, finished again 4th ahead of his team-mate Hermann Maier, 5th at 95/100.

Bruno Kernen, the bronze medal winner in that specialty at Are last month, was 6th in front of USA's Bode Miller, who increased his lead in the World Cup standings with his 7th place.

His closest rival, Canada's John Kucera, the surprising winner at Lake Louise, was only 15th today and Italy's Peter Fill, 3rd in the standings prior the race, only 28th.

Grugger, who started in 5th position, didn't finish a single World Cup Super-G this season but his 2nd place in downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen last month helped him to find back his momentum and his confidence. His fourth World Cup triumph - the Austrian also won two downhill races in past years - qualifies him in the last minute for the World Cup Finals in that specialty.

"I can't say that I expected this - it's a wonderful surprise for me," said Grugger, only 27th in the downhill on Saturday, after the race.

"The course conditions were excellent when I started and I wanted to finish the season on a high note in that discipline," he added. "I can explain how come I skied so fast today. This win is amazing and also very important to me. It's an exceptional moment for me. I struggled after finishing 4th in downhill at Lake Louise but I felt that my form was improving."

Grugger's performance will certainly feed the controversy surrounding the start-orders in the speed events. Once more, a racer wearing a low number beats the favourites starting later on - like Mario Scheiber, who had bib 22 or Cuche who wore bib 23. Bode Miller started in 29th position and Hermann Maier in 30th.

Italy's Staudacher, who clinched gold in that event at Are last month with bib 12, didn't compete this weekend in Norway.

Didier Cuche is for sure the big winner of this Norwegian weekend which brought him a total of 175 points in the Overall standings and his first Crystal cup in downhill.

"I didn't expect such great success here, I reached more than I thought and I'm very excited to be now 2nd in the Overall and in the Super-G standings," the Swiss veteran. "I'm looking forward now for a strong week at Lenzerheide where I want to achieve same kinds of performances in front of my fans. I have nothing to lose there," he added.

Cuche's chances to become a strong threat for Raich and Svindal in trhe Overall standings are slim but real. He has been quite consistent in the speed events this season and quite strong too in giant slalom and has the potential to mark over two hundred points in those three specialties - maybe it could be enough to create a huge surprise.

Svindal, who raced after Raich in that Super-G, certainly lost a major chance to score heavy points today and get closer to the Austrian in the Overall standings.

The Finals at Lenzerheide promise to be tense until the last day.