Feuz Wins Kitzbuehel Downhill Marked By Two Heavy Crashes
Zeeshan Mehtab Published January 22, 2021 | 07:56 PM
Switzerland's Beat Feuz fell back on all his experience to blitz Kitzbuehel's famed World Cup downhill on Friday, but in-form American Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Swiss racer Urs Kryenbuehl both crashed heavily in the wind-interrupted race
Kitzbhel, Austria, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jan, 2021 ) :Switzerland's Beat Feuz fell back on all his experience to blitz Kitzbuehel's famed World Cup downhill on Friday, but in-form American Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Swiss racer Urs Kryenbuehl both crashed heavily in the wind-interrupted race.
Feuz, who won two medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics (super-G silver, downhill bronze) and was world downhill champion in St Moritz in 2017, timed a scorching 1min 53.77sec down the 3.3km-long Streif course on the Hahnenkamm mountain.
There were no speeding tickets issued as Feuz raced in excess of 145 km/h (90 mph) in what is widely regarded as the most prestigious and demanding race on the World Cup circuit.
Last year's winner, home favourite and double Olympic medallist Matthias Mayer, came in second at 0.16sec, paying a high price for one minor error when he strayed just a few metres too wide negotiating a turn.
Italian Dominik Paris, a four-time winner in Kitzbuehel (downhill in 2013, 2017 and 2019; super-G in 2015), rounded out the podium of established skiers (+0.56) just a year after rupturing knee ligaments on the same slope in training.
"I'm very happy," Feuz said, after breaking a run of four second places in Kitzbuehel. "Everyone on the podium skied very well." Mayer's result took him atop the downhill standings ahead of Feuz and defending overall World Cup champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Norwegian having been ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a knee ligament injury in training last week.
Kilde's teammate Kjetil Jansrud, world downhill champion and Olympic silver medallist in the discipline at Pyeongchang in 2018, won the 2015 downhill in Kitzbuehel but a mistake high up the course put paid to any thoughts of a second victory, eventually coming in 2.51sec off the pace.
One thing missing from the so-called 'white circus' was one of its most quintessential aspects - fans.
Last year, a whopping 86,500 spectators packed into the stands surrounding the finish area over three days of action.
Flags waving and flares blazing, the supporters lend the spectacle a baying, gladiatorial atmosphere which the daredevil skiers lap up. Thousands more fill the quaint cobbled streets of the Austrian Tyrol town.
But the coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to that.
Their absence did not deter Feuz, who kept his shape throughout in warm conditions with gusty winds and ran a near-perfect line while negotiating sections that have an 85% gradient. The race was stopped after 30 of the 55 listed racers had competed because of the wind and failing light.
There have been several gruesome crashes in the white-knuckled downhill over the years, and this race was no exception.
Notable casualties Friday were Cochran-Siegle, who this season won the Bormio super-G and was second in the Val Gardena downhill, and Kryenbuehl, who overpitched the final jump, landed heavily and slid through the finish line in a messy heap.
Cochran-Siegle badly negotiated a traverse, catapulting off a bump and shooting spectacularly into the safety netting.
He was quickly on his feet but organisers airlifted him off the course by helicopter after he complained about numbness in his arm. Kryenbuehl's crash looked worse and the Swiss racer was also whisked off to hospital after a long interruption.
France's Johan Clarey took a heavy tumble in training on Thursday, but the 40-year-old dusted himself off to claim an impressive fourth place come race time.
Saturday sees the racers competing in a second downhill, rescheduled from Wengen after competition there was cancelled after positive virus cases, with a super-G to be held on Sunday in place of the traditional slalom which was shifted to Flachau last weekend.
"Tomorrow, I hope for a race without accidents," said Feuz. "It's forecast for snow overnight, so the conditions will be different."
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