Men´s Downhill in Beaver Creek (USA) 2007

Ski2b 30.11.2007 21:32 Uhr

16:29:

At 19 h CET the men will start their downhill on the legendary 'Birds of Prey' slope in Beaver Creek. Until then!



18:39:

Welcome to the men's downhill in Beaver Creek. The Birds of Prey-slope is one of the most challenging in the World Cup Tour.



18:41 - Cuche, Didier (SUI):

We expect a very exciting race. Favorite today is Dider Cuche from Switzerland - he proved his abilities in the first training run, where he clocked the fastest time.



18:41 - Walchhofer, Michael (AUT):

The Austrians will be strong as well. With Hermann Maier, Michael Walchhofer and many more, they have good racers at the starting point.



18:42 - Miller, Bode (USA):

We should not forget Bode Miller, who has always been strong on this slope in the last years.



18:43 - Büchel, Marco (LIE):

Also,old-hand Marco Buechel from Liechtenstein is a possible winner here. Or do the younger racers make the game?



18:59:

The start of the race has shortly been displace downwards. The athletes will start now, where yesterday's combined downhill started.



18:59:

The first forerunners will get on the track soon.



19:02:

The slope is firm and groomed with artificial snow. Conditions aren't easy.



19:03:

At the start, the atheletes are trying to keep themselves warm in the snow flurry.



19:06 - Kucera, John (CAN):

The race has started! John Kucera hurls himself into the extremely steep slope.




19:07 - Kucera, John (CAN):

The visibility conditions aren't good, the Canadian still comes along well. The first benchmark: 1:14,48 minutes.



19:08 - Defago, Didier (SUI):

Didier Defago is barely leading ahead of Kucera at the second intermediate time.



19:10 - Defago, Didier (SUI):

No major mistakes, the Swiss is half a second faster than Kucera.



19:11 - Kröll, Klaus (AUT):

Klaus Kroell misses a gate at the section below and drops out.



19:11 - Albrecht, Daniel (SUI):

Daniel Albrecht from Switzerland has to wait for the start.



19:12 - Albrecht, Daniel (SUI):

Albrecht has problems at the upper section.



19:13 - Albrecht, Daniel (SUI):

At the section below he clearly loses time. He's behind with 93 hundreths.



19:13 - Defago, Didier (SUI):

Defago is still ahead.



19:14 - Bottollier-Lasquin, Marc (FRA):

The Frenchman is too much in standing position. At the finish , he's behind with 1.69 seconds.



19:17 - Sulzenbacher, Kurt (ITA):

The Italian runs very close to the gates but at the finish, he's just behind Defago in second place.



19:18 - Streitberger, Georg (AUT):

Newcomer Streitberger is behind with half a second at the second intermediate time.



19:18 - Streitberger, Georg (AUT):

Streitberger finishes in seventh place only.



19:19 - Nyman, Steven (USA):

Now for another favorite, Steven Nyman!



19:20 - Nyman, Steven (USA):

A lead of three tenth at the first intermediate time.



19:22 - Nyman, Steven (USA):

He puts down a wild run and gets the lead.



19:24 - Gruber, Christoph (AUT):

The Austrian has problems with his ligaments, but still finishes in sixth place.



19:26 - Hudec, Jan (CAN):

The winner of the first downhill in Lake Louise is constantly losing time on Nyman and at the finish, he's behind the American with eight tenth.



19:27 - Maier, Hermann (AUT):

The Austrian is strong performing, but at the section below, he loses half a second. Place 4 currently.



19:29 - Osborne-Paradis, Manuel (CAN):

Osborne-Paradis whacks his run. More than four seconds behind at the finish!



19:31 - Hoffmann, Ambrosi (SUI):

The Swiss enters the slide with high speed. But he's not as good as the leading athlete on the technical section. Sixth place for Hoffmann.



19:32 - Dalcin, Pierre-Emmanuel (FRA):

The Frenchman is too slow. He's currently ranked eights at the finish.



19:33 - Scheiber, Mario (AUT):

Next try for an Austrian. Mario Scheiber is good at the upper technical part.



19:34 - Scheiber, Mario (AUT):

Third place for Scheiber, a deficit of 34 hundreths.



19:35 - Walchhofer, Michael (AUT):

Short break after 15 racers now. The next one to go is Michael Walchhofer, one of the top favorites.



19:36 - Walchhofer, Michael (AUT):

He takes advantage of the good visibility conditions at the upper section. High speed: 117 km/h!



19:37 - Walchhofer, Michael (AUT):

At the finish, Walchhofer is barely leading ahead of Nyman and takes over the lead.



19:38 - Fill, Peter (ITA):

Fill is good at the upper part, but then loses three tenth below. Fourth place.



19:39 - Jerman, Andrej (SLO):

The Slovenian is not close enough to the gates, eights place for him only.



19:40 - Guay, Erik (CAN):

Erik Guay has to wait a little. The Canadian belongs to one of the best downhill racers of the world.



19:41 - Guay, Erik (CAN):

Guay is on the way now. But already loses half a second at the upper section.



19:42 - Guay, Erik (CAN):

No mistakes, but still only place 11. What happened there?



19:46 - Büchel, Marco (LIE):

Marco Buechel with an impressing run. But at the finish, he's behind with 20 hundreths. Fourth place.



19:47 - Miller, Bode (USA):

Miller is attacking. Far jump of the American.



19:48 - Miller, Bode (USA):

A deficit of 36 hundreth at the finish. Only fifth place for Miller.



19:49 - Cuche, Didier (SUI):

Cuche is already behind a the upper section, but then improves and finishes in third place.



19:50 - Walchhofer, Michael (AUT):

Michi Walchhofer is still leading. Steven Nyman is currently ranked second, the Swiss Cuche third.



19:52:

The top favorites already reached the finish. However, it's still thrilling because the gaps are very little.



19:53 - Staudacher, Patrick (ITA):

Staudacher chooses the wrong line and misses a gate. The Italian drops out.



19:54 - Macartney, Scott (USA):

The American is clearly behind and finishes in place 17.



19:55 - Sullivan, Marco (USA):

The next American is without any chances , revealing technical deficits at the upper section. Place 22 for Sullivan.



19:56 - Bertrand, Yannick (FRA):

It's getting foggy, Bertrand has to wait.



19:58:

The race is discontinued.



20:01:

The fog has stopped the race. At the moment it's not foreseeable, yet, when it'll continue.



20:04:

Looks like the race can go on. Bertrand is ready to start.



20:06 - Bertrand, Yannick (FRA):

Bertrand almost had a severe fall. The Frenchman drops out.



20:06 - Grünenfelder, Tobias (SUI):

The Swiss finished in a good fifht place in Lake Louise.



20:08 - Grünenfelder, Tobias (SUI):

But he completely loses his line at the upper part, too, misses a gate and drops out.



20:09 - Zurbriggen, Silvan (SUI):

The next one on the track, Silvian Zurbriggen, is trying hard to manage the extremeley challenging slope.



20:10 - Zurbriggen, Silvan (SUI):

Zurbriggen finishes in 20th place.



20:11 - Clarey, Johan (FRA):

Clarey keeps the gap under a second and gets ranked 15th.



20:12 - Heel, Werner (ITA):

Werner Heel had a great start in Lake Louise this season. However, he makes a big mistake in the middle section here.



20:13 - Heel, Werner (ITA):

Passive run from Heel and place 22.



20:14 - Raich, Benjamin (AUT):

Now for the favorite of the overall world cup.



20:16 - Raich, Benjamin (AUT):

Raich with a good run, but he loses more than a second on Walchhofer. Currently eights position.



20:18 - Sporn, Andrej (SLO):

Sporn isn't convinving and finishes in place 25 only.



20:20 - Baumann, Romed (AUT):

The young Romed Baumann stays among the best 25 racers. He looks content.



20:21 - Theaux, Adrien (FRA):

The Frenchman reaches the finish with a deficit of 1,38 seconds. Place 23.



20:22 - Poisson, David (FRA):

His compatriot Poisson takes over place 23 now.



20:23 - Olsson, Hans (SWE):

The slope is not in a good condition any more. Olsson, too, stays behind with barely 1,5 seconds.



20:26 - Hofer, Beni (SUI):

The Swiss Hofer misses a gate - that won't make any world cup points!



20:27 - Bourque, Francois (CAN):

Bourque disappoints his fans and has to be content with place 33.



20:28 - Keppler, Stephan (GER):

Now for the German Keppler. He finished in place 15 in the combined event yesterday.



20:30 - Keppler, Stephan (GER):

Keppler with some mistakes today though. Place 27 for him only.



20:31:

That was it for the downhill race in Beaver Creek. Congratulations to Michael Walchhofer!



20:34:

We'll be back tomorrow to report on the men's super-g on the "Birds of Prey". The race is scheduled at 7.00 pm. We'll start our coverage on 6.30 pm. See you!