Lake Louise Super-G Goes To Kjetil Jansrud, Franz Wins Downhill
Sunday marked the opening of the super-g season on the Audi FIS Ski World Cup 2018/19. In Lake Louise, the super-g remained in Norwegian hands with Kjetil Jansrud claiming the win ahead of Vincent Kriechmayr and Mauro Caviezel.
For the 7th year in a row, an attacking viking was at the top of the super-g ranking in Lake Louise. Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud, all editions since 2010 were won by a Norwegian athlete, and it was no different in 2018. The Cup winner from 2016 and 2017 laid down an aggressive run and finished with a tight +0.14 advantage over his runner-up.
Vincent Kriechmayr, who really broke through last season with two World Cup wins in super-g (Beaver Creek and Are) and one in downhill (Are), had a small mistake in the upper part, but was able to push hard in the steeper sections to finally grab a second place behind Jansrud. It’s his first podium in Lake Louise, the eighth in his career.
The surprise of the day came from Switzerland’s Mauro Caviezel. He was laying down solid performances in the speed disciplines lately, finishing last season in 12th position in the downhill standings and 15th in super-g. After a first podium in Aspen in 2017, Caviezel managed to earn another third place and proves he’s on a great shape for the upcoming 2018/19 season.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) led the men of the U.S. Ski Team in Sunday’s FIS Ski World Cup super-G in Lake Louise, Canada, taking off from bib 39 and finishing 12th. Norway’s Jansrud Kjetil won, Austria’s Vincent Kreichmayr came in second, and Switzerland’s Mauro Caviezel rounded out the podium in third.
“I would say this is pretty outstanding start to the season for me,” said Cochran-Siegle, who finished 20th in Saturday’s downhill. “Even being able to score World Cup points on Saturday was huge - only the second time I’ve scored World Cup points, the last time being six years ago.”
All eight men representing the United States finished: Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.), Thomas Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.), Cochran-Siegle, Nicholas Kraus (Northboro, Mass.), Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah), Sam Morse (Sugarloaf, Maine), Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) and Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.).
The first Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill of the season went down under a bright sunshine at Lake Louise and saw Max Franz claiming the win, followed by the Italian duo Christof Innerhofer and Dominik Paris.
With bib number 1, Max Franz was the first one to tackle the course at Lake Louise. The Austrian racer said he made some mistakes, but all in all it was a good run and he could settle in the leader seat. What he didn’t know at this point, was that he’d be able to hold on to this position all the way to the end of the race. Already last year he grabbed a third place in Lake Louise, but climbing on the highest step, for the second time in his career after Val Gardena 2016, was unexpected. Max Franz is now wearing the red bib for the first time in his career and will have to defend it next week in Beaver Creek.
"My skiiing is solid at the moment. I had problems with my knee in the past weeks and I wasn't sure if it would work for the race. But after the first training I realised that I could push. Now I feel great and I have good sensations on the snow" said Max Franz.
Behind Franz, two Italians share the podium. In second place, Christof Innerhofer confirmed his great shape after winning the first training run on this course.
"They call me the Training World Champion, so I am very happy that I was able to lay down my best performance in the race as well. I’m more relaxed that in the past, and focus less on the result and more on the good skiing. It seems to work for me".Christof Innerhofer added.
Innerhofer’s last podium in downhill goes back to Lenzerheide in 2014, so it’s a relief to him to find the Top 3 again in his favorite discipline. He’ll definitely be one to watch tomorrow, as he was second of the last World Cup super-g held in Åre last March.
Dominik Paris is the other Italian that earned a podium spot today. Despite winning the downhill in Bormio, the season 2017/18 was difficult for him. So earning a podium in Lake Louise, where he could celebrate a win back in 2013, is the best possible way to start the season for him.
The men’s World Cup Tour will now be moving to the USA for three race days in Beaver Creek. A super-g (Friday 30th November), a downhill (Saturday 1st December) and a giant slalom (Sunday 2nd December) will be held on the famous Birds of Prey course.
