Defago wint Der Streif

Met Kaiserwetter won de Zwitser Didier Defago vandaag de Hahnenkammrennen in Kitzbühel. Defago won vorige week ook al de Lauberhorn afdaling in Wengen.

Hoe snel het op Der Streif gaat kan je zien op deze video. Hans Knauss voormalig wedstrijdskier laat zien hoe het gaat.

Armin Bittner, analyticus bij het ZDF, was van de week trouwens glashelder over de val van Albrecht: fout van de skier.

Gisteren won Klaus Kröll de Super G al in Kitzbühel. Hij werd vandaag derde op de afdeling, net na Michael Walchhofer die tweede werd.

Morgen volgt de slalom: ouderwets weer op de Ganslerhang!

Der Streif

Na de val van de Amerikaan Scott MacCartney vorig jaar op Der Streif in Kitzbühel, werd de laatste sprong voor de finish al afgevlakt. Hiermee moest de laatste sprong veiliger worden.

Gisteren tijdens de training giing het helaas weer mis. De Zwitser Daniel Albrecht verloor de controle over zijn skies. Hij had zijn lichaamsgewicht te veel naar achteren, Maakte een halve salto achterover en kwam hard, erg hard neer op de sneeuw. Na een behandeling van 20 minuten op de puiste werd hij met de helicopter naar het zieknhuis van St. Johaan vervoerd. Daar is hij in coma gebracht. Hij ligt inmiddels met een hersenbloeding en een gekneusde long in het ziekenhuis van Innsbruck.

Vorig jaar had MacCartney geluk. Hij is weer helemaal opgeknapt. Hij doet al weer volop mee in de wereldbeker. De hersenbeschadiging van Albrecht lijkt groter. De tijd moet leren of hij weer helemaal gaat opknappen.

Lauberhorn afdaling makkelijker

De Lauberhorn afdaling in Wengen is de langste afdaling in de wereldbeker voor de heren. Na twee en een halve minuut moest er nog even door een lastige S bocht geskied worden en nog een reuzensprong gemaakt worden voordat de skiërs onder het finish doek doorskieden.

Dat was zo.

Vanaf nu is het laatste bochtje van de Lauberhorn afdaling minder scherp en de sprong minder groot. Volgens de FIS is het te gevaarlijk. En dus is er 200.0000 Zwitserse Franken geinvesteerd om wat grond te verplaatsen en bomen te kappen.

Ik ben benieuwd hoe het eruit ziet. In januari weten we het, dan zijn de Lauberhornrennen weer.

Zeven, schande

Het commentaar van wielerfan en feitjesgoeroe Franz is duidelijk. Het zijn er al zeven. Ik volg het allemaal ook niet meer zo... sorry. Maar de lol is eraf.

7 renners op de 180 renners die in de Tour starten zijn al betrapt. Het schijnt dat dit nu echt alle renners zijn die betrapt zijn.

Nog een rondje in Lombardije en dan kan het peloton haar zondes overdenken. Een week daarop begint het skiseizoen gelukkig weer en het afgelopen weekend stond op teletekst: "Kramer snel op buitenijs." Sven is ook al weer bezig.

Skiën en schaatsen.... Laat de winter maar komen!

Wereldbeker 2008 - 2009

Het voelt als zomer. De FIS vergadert in Kaapstad. FritZ vraagt zich hardop af wat de Kaapstad met skiën heeft en wat de FIS met Kaapstad heeft en toch....

De wereldbeker kalender voor 2008 -2009 staat vast.

Nieuw op de kalender is het Bulgaarse Bansko. De dames skiën hier een afdaling en Super G.

Verder blijven alle klassiekers in de traditionele volgorde in het programma. Mijn persoonlijke favorieten: Cortina bij de vrouwen en Kitzbühel voor de heren vallen dit keer weer in hetzelfde weekeinde van 23-25 januari 2009

Hahnenkamm 2008

Vorig jaar gingen de Hahnekammrennen niet door vanwege de enorme kracht van orkaan Kyrill, ondakns dat er eerder heel veel sneeuw van de Grossglocker op de Hahnenkamm was gegooid.

Voor dit jaar lijkt er geen vuiltje aan de lucht: de controle van de piste door de FIS verliep vlekkeloos. Dus dit jaar op vrijdag de Super G, zaterdag de afdaling en zondag de slalom. De slalom finished net als vorig jaar weer op de Streif zelf. (zie onderstaande foto).

Foto: Hahnenkamm.com

Help! Geen skiën op TV

Eind oktober vonden de eerste wereldbeker wedstrijden plaats op de gletsjer in Soelden. Vol verwachting keek ik in de gids bij ARD en ZDF. Maar geen skiën te zien. Ook Eurosport deed geen verslag, want die hebben geen rechten voor het wedstrijden in Oostenrijk.

Komend weekend zijn de volgende wedstrijden. Deze stonden gepland in Levi (Finland), maar wegens sneeuwgebrek zijn de wedstrijden verplaatst naar de Reiteralm in Oostenrijk. Ook deze wedstrijden had ik graag gezien, maar ARD en ZDF laten me opnieuw in de steek. Eurosport doet weer geen verslag.

Komt er eigenlijk nog wel skiën op tv???

Finale

De finale van de wereldbeker skien is dit jaar in Lenzerheide, Zwitserland.

Zowel bij de dames als de heren is het nog spannend wie er de wereldbeker overall gaat winnen. De wedstrijden zijn daarom extra interessant.

Er zijn nog vier kanshebsters bij de dames: Marlies Schild, Nicole Hosp, Renate Götschl en Julia Mancuso. Deze Oostenrijkse en Amerikaanse dames staan op minder dan 100 punten van elkaar.

Vandaag won Renate Götschl de afdaling voor Marlies Schild. Het blijft dus spannend met nog een super-g, reuzeslalom en slalom te skien.

Bij de heren gaat het tussen een Noor : Aksal Lund Svindal; een Zwitser : Didier Cuche en een Oostenrijker : Benni Raich. Minder dan 75 punten zit er tussen deze drie heren nadat Svindal vandaag de afdaling won.

De afdaling werd twee keer onderbroken wegens twee zware crashes van Bruno Kernen en Dalcin. Beide werden met een helicopter naar het ziekenhuis vervoerd.

Ook bij de heren worden nog een super g, reuzenslalom en slalom geskied.

Afdaling mannen Garmisch

Andrej Jerman became the first Slovenian to win a World Cup downhill when he clocked one minute 56.82 seconds down the classic Kandahar course at Garmisch. On snow trucked in from Austria, Jerman took advantage of the best of the soft conditions to beat Austrian Hans Grugger by 0.22 seconds. Canada's Erik Guay was third, 0.44 behind.

The 28-year-old Jerman had never even been on a World Cup podium before, but none of the fancied starters could get anywhere near his time. World Cup downhill champion Michael Walchhofer of Austria was lucky to escape serious injury when he ploughed into safety netting at high speed after losing control. World Cup downhill leader Didier Cuche had to abandon his first attempt after Walchhofer's high-speed accident and returned to the top to start his run again.

However, like virtually all of the main favourites, he struggled for pace on snow made sticky by temperatures of 13 Celsius, finishing down in 20th spot. American former downhill world champion Bode Miller was 28th, just ahead of Austrian Hermann Maier.

Kampioen zonder te skien

Renate Götschl wint zonder te skien haar zevende wereldbeker. Lindsey Kildow was de enigste skister die Renate nog kon inhalen. Kildow is echter geblesseerd en skiet de rest van het seizoen niet meer.

Renate Götschl wint dus die jaar de wereldbeker Super-G.

Slalom heren Kitzbuhel

Sweden's Jens Byggmark completed a shock double on Sunday, winning his second career World Cup race just 24 hours after celebrating his first. The 21-year-old Swede, competing in his first full World Cup season, was lying in fifth place following the opening leg of Sunday's slalom but seized victory with a storming performance in the second run. Byggmark's combined time of one minute 44.20 seconds put him just 0.03 seconds ahead of Austria's Mario Matt, who was also runner-up to the Swede in Saturday's slalom.

Italy's Manfred Moelgg had led at the halfway stage but fell back to third place, a further 0.02 seconds back. Byggmark, who has finished in the top 10 of every slalom race this season, extended his lead in the discipline standings, where he has 343 points to Austrian Benjamin Raich's 265. Raich, the defending overall World Cup champion, took sixth place to climb up to fourth in the race for this year's overall title.

Overall leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway finished 16th to inch a little further ahead of nearest rivals Didier Cuche of Switzerland and Bode Miller. Miller, the 2005 overall champion, was unable to end his long-running jinx in the slalom discipline, failing to finish for the ninth consecutive time. The American, whose dismal run covers eight World Cup races and the 2006 Olympic slalom in Turin, was just five gates from the finish line on Sunday when a tight turn caused him to flip wide. Slalom World Cup champion Giorgio Rocca of Italy also had a bad day, crashing out at the third gate of the opening run.

Bron : eurosport.com

Vrouwen Super G San Secario

American Lindsey Kildow beat in-form Austrian Renate Goetschl to win a women's World Cup super-G race on Sunday. Kildow's third win of the season, and her first in super-G, came with a superb run on the Fraiteve course used for last year's Winter Olympics. Her time of one minute 30.06 seconds was 0.17 seconds ahead of overall Cup leader Goetschl, who won both Friday's super-G and Saturday's downhill here.

Austria's Christine Sponring had her second podium place in three days by finishing third, 0.29 seconds behind Kildow, in the final women's race before the world championships. Kildow, whose Olympics were marred by a bad training crash, has had a patchy season with her seven podium places before Sunday matched by as many failures to finish races. Goetschl, who leads the super-G standings as well as the overall, notched up the 100th podium place of her career.

Her hopes of a third race win in as many days were dashed when she caught her left arm on a gate pole midway down the course. Goetschl leads the overall standings with 1,001 points, 85 ahead of team mate Marlies Schild, who finished just outside the points places on Sunday. In the super-G competition, she has a lead of 130 points over Kildow with two races, carrying 200 points, to come.

Bron : eurosport.com

Slalom heren Kitzbuhel

Sweden's Jens Byggmark celebrated his first World Cup victory on Saturday with a gutsy performance in the Kitzbuehel weekend's opening slalom. The 21-year-old, competing in his first full World Cup season, coped impressively with challenging conditions to post a combined time of one minute 43.74 seconds. Austria's Mario Matt climbed from 10th place in the first run to finish second, 0.87 seconds behind Byggmark. Germany's Alois Vogl was third -- a further 0.61 seconds back.

A choppy course and persistent snowfall caused problems for many of the favourites with Byggmark's compatriot Markus Larsson among those failing to qualify for the second run. Larsson had begun the day on top of the slalom standings but has now been overtaken by Byggmark. Defending overall champion Benjamin Raich of Austria slipped back from second place at the halfway stage to finish fifth, a result that puts him joint second with Larsson in the discipline standings.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, the overall World Cup leader, was able to slightly stretch his lead over Switzerland's Didier Cuche and America's Bode Miller after finishing 13th. Miller, who has yet to finish a slalom this season, suffered another bad day - crashing out of the first run after inexplicably losing his right ski.

Bron : eurosport.com

Afdaling vrouwen San Secario

Renate Goetschl collected her 44th World Cup victory after leading an Austrian 1-2-3 in a women's downhill on Saturday. The 31-year-old powered to her sixth win of the season, and second in two days, in one minute 51.65 seconds. Compatriots Elisabeth Goergl and Maria Holaus were second and third respectively, their times of 1:52.83 and 1:53.00 more than a second slower than their team mate.

Goetschl, winner of Friday's super-G on the glistening Fraiteve piste that hosted last year's Turin Olympics downhill, now leads the overall World Cup as well as the downhill and super-G standings. Her victory was the 99th podium appearance in the World Cup since 1995.

Bron : eurosport.com

Super G vrouwen San Secario

Renate Goetschl won her fifth race of the season as she edged out Lindsey Kildow in the women's Super-G at San Sicario. The Austrian won in a time of one minute 24.90 seconds, nine hundreths quicker than the American, to extend her lead at the top of the discipline standings. Austrian Christine Sponring snatched third from a start position of 36, usurping early leader Britt Janyk of Canada.

Sponring tore a crucial ligament two seasons ago and for the first time this season showed the form that saw her take a shock silver medal in the combined at the 2001 World Championships. It was Goetschl's 43rd World Cup success and came on the slope where she suffered such disappointment at the Olympics last year. Goetschl was fastest in training on Thursday for Saturday's downhill and after victories this month at Altenmarkt and Cortina d'Ampezzo few would bet against her triumphing again at San Sicario on Saturday

The Austrian, who likes fast challenging pistes, has in the past criticised the meandering tree-lined Fraiteve course as being too gentle and gliding. At the Games she was a medal favourite but, nursing a knee injury, she managed only 26th place in the super-G and fourth in the downhill. She described the course as "amazing" and used all her experience to conquer it, following a tight line and relaxing into the finish.

Conditions were ideal with a cold night turning into a warm day and making for fast times. Kildow was also able to banish her demons on this hill, where she fell badly during an Olympics training run ruining her chances of medals last year. Kildow has won one downhill this season and finished three times on the podium in downhill and super-G so she will be pushing Goetschl all the way at the weekend.

Sponring, racing in her first World Cup super-G after concentrating on the more technical events, was surprised and delighted to stand on the podium next to Goetschl.

Bron : eurosport.com

Een beetje sneeuw, maar geen afdaling

Het kleine beetjes sneeuw de afgelopen nacht zorgt er natuurlijk niet voor dat de Hahnemkamm afdaling opeens weer op de agenda staat. Daarvoor komt de sneeuw gewoon te laat. De ORF schrijft precies hoe het in elkaar zit.

Reuzenslalom vrouwen Cortina

Italy's Karen Putzer won her first World Cup race in nearly four years, beating the favourites in Cortina's giant slalom.

Putzer, whose last victory on the circuit was in March 2003, beat Olympic champion Julia Mancuso of the United States by 0.41 seconds in two minutes 46.93 seconds.

Denise Karbon completed a great day for the home team with third place, her first podium finish in nearly two years.

On a bad day for the usually dominant Austrians, the team had no one in the top 10. Their best finisher was Elisabeth Goergl in 11th.

The 28-year-old Putzer, a former world junior champion in giant slalom, led after the first leg on the Olympia delle Tofane course and held on to collect her eighth World Cup victory.

Putzer has entered only four races this season, since undergoing surgery on her right hip last May to correct a long-standing problem.

World Cup champion Anja Paerson of Sweden and giant slalom standings leader Nicole Hosp of Austria both failed to finish the first leg in the foggy conditions.

Hosp cut her lip and cheek in a crash but dismissed the injuries as trifling and said she was glad not to have hurt herself more seriously ahead of next month's world championships in Sweden.

With team mate Marlies Schild failing to complete the second run, the points at the top of the overall cup standings remained unchanged. Schild has 881 to Hosp's 828, though Mancuso moved up to 794 in third place.

Hosp held on to the giant slalom standings lead, with Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, fifth on Sunday, moving up to second 16 points behind the Austrian.

Putzer, who was cheered on by a large contingent from her nearby home village, said she had gone to New York last year for surgery after putting off her hip operation for years.

Mancuso had a similar operation with the same surgeon last year and has enjoyed superb form in Cortina, winning Friday's super-G and finishing second in Saturday's downhill.

The 22-year-old American, who also won a super-combined in Altenmarkt, Austria, last Sunday, said it was still too early to think about winning the overall World Cup.

Karbon was the last Italian woman to win a technical event, collecting her only World Cup victory in the Alta Badia giant slalom in December 2003.

Former overall cup champion Paerson, who has been unable to win a race since knee surgery at the end of last season, blamed new skis and the poor visibility for her exit.

Bron : Eurosprt.com

Afdaling vrouwen Cortina

Austria's Renate Goetschl won the women's World Cup downhill to continue an unbroken winning streak in Cortina d'Ampezzo dating back to 2002.

The 31-year-old former overall World Cup champion has a total of 10 wins 12 other podium places in the Dolomites resort.

Goetschl sped down the Olympia delle Tofane piste in one minute 31.14 seconds, beating American Julia Mancuso into second place.

Mancuso, the on-form Olympic giant slalom champion who won Friday's rain-delayed super-G while Goetschl finished third, clocked a time of 1:31.31 with France's Marie Marchand-Arvier third in 1:31.74.

Marchand-Arvier, on the World Cup podium for the first time in her career, might have hoped for a stunning first victory after starting fifth and then watching the bigger names struggling on softening conditions.

Mancuso, the 28th starter, dashed the 21-year-old's hopes before Goetschl followed her rival down with an even faster time.

American Lindsey Kildow, starting 30th, fell but staged a short-lived recovery before tumbling again, losing her balance and flipping on to her back before ultimately skidding to a halt face down.

Bron : eurosport.com

Afdaling mannen Val d'Isere

France's Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin won the men's downhill on home snow at Val d'Isere for the first victory of his World Cup career.

The 29-year-old skier, whose previous best result was second place in a super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2004, started sixth and crossed the line with a time of one minute 56.37 seconds.

The course deteriorated under bright sunshine, which meant none of the favourites could match his time.

Canada's Erik Guay was second on a bumpy Oreiller-Killy piste in 1:56.63 with compatriot Manuel Osborne-Paradis, second in the opening downhill of the season in Lake Louise, finishing third in 1:56.69.

Yannick Bertrand played his part in an impressive overall performance from the French team with fourth place in 1:56.74, his best World Cup result.

American Bode Miller, the downhill world champion and overall World Cup winner in 2005, failed to finish after struggling to make a turn and losing his balance.

World Cup downhill leader Didier Cuche of Switzerland, who was hoping for a breakthrough win after finishing second four times out of the six previous downhills staged this winter, had to be content with joint 10th place.

Austria's Michael Walchhofer, the winner of two downhills this winter, ended out of the top 20 after an error-ridden run.

Olympic downhill champion Antoine Deneriaz of France, who was returning from a three-week break eager to bounce back after a disastrous start to the season, also failed to enter the top 20.

Bron : eurosport.com

Super G vrouwen Cortina

Julia Mancuso tamed a patchy piste to win the shortened women's super G at Cortina d'Ampezzo on Friday. The in-form American all rounder beat Austrian pair Nicola Hosp and Renate Goetschl in the event, which was reduced to just one run owing to heavy rainfall.

Mancuso's dream year continues with this latest victory, her third in the last month. It is hard to believe that the 22-year-old Olympic slalom champion had never won a World Cup race before the start of the season, such has been her phenomenal form of late.

The first of the race's favourites to start, Mancuso blitzed into the lead on the Olympia delle Tofane course with an imperious time of 1'16"25.

Hosp, one of the race favourites, skied confidently but could only snatch second, "33 in arrears.

Fellow Austrian Goetschl, who had a winning streak in Cortina stretching back for five years, posted the third best time, at "34.

Goetschl, who won the first two Super G races this season, will hope to keep her Cortina run going with a win in Saturday's downhill.

Another Austrian, overall World Cup standings leader Marlies Schild, failed to make an impression after inexplicably missing a gate on the middle section of the course.

Mancuso's US team-mate Lindsey Kildow and Austrian Andrea Fischbacher tied for fourth place, "39 down behind the winner.

The start of the event was delayed by three and a half hours due to heavy rain in the Italian resort.

Race organisers used chemicals to firm up the piste which had been much deteriorated by the adverse weather conditions.

Bron : eurosport.com