Paris Wins Again.. Again..

It was a sunny downhill day at the Stelvio in Bormio, Italy. A different day with slightly different conditions (sunny and harder terrain) in Bormio for the second Downhill on the programme, but the outcome wass the same: Dominik Paris (ITA)  the Downhill for the fifth time, the fourth in a row.

Italy’s Dominik Paris is like the gingerbread man singing “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You'll never catch me, I'm the gingerbread man” as he runs away with yet another victory on the Stelvio—making it his fourth-straight downhill victory on the track. An unlikely face, in Swiss Urs Kryenbuehl, made his podium debut in second, just .08 off of Dominik’s pace, with fellow countryman Beat Feuz rounding out the podium in third, .26 seconds out. Prior to Saturday’s downhill, Urs had never even had a top-10 finish on the World Cup. 

In the end, however he clinched the win by only 0.08s on Urs Kryenbuehl (SUI), who does a perfect run starting with bib 25. It’s the first podium (and top 10) for the Swiss youngster. Kryenbuehl had achieved his career best result just yesterday with a 13th place and significantly improved today.

Another well-known face, Beat Feuz (SUI), finished third in the Downhill, 0.26s behind Paris, claiming his fourth podium out of four Downhill races this season. The Swiss racer was very satisfied with his speed weekend on such a demanding slope, also considering his recent hand injury.

This victory was even more meaningful for Dominik Paris, as he now leads both the overall and the downhill ranking. 

For the second-straight day, Ryan grabbed 11th place, which is his third-straight top-11 downhill result this season. Ryan has scored in 10 of 11 races this season, across four disciplines—parallel giant slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill—featuring a career-best sixth in Beaver Creek, Colo. 

"I wanted to go into today skiing a little more aggressive in certain sections, especially coming off the top road," Ryan reflected after his run. "I think I did that, but I think I could be a touch cleaner with how the snow was. It definitely held up well, and I think the conditions are very fair for everyone. I think for the guys running later, the light got better, so it was almost advantageous to go later. I was a little dirty on the top of the turn in certain places, but definitely happy with my result. This is really solid skiing, and I feel like I have a pretty good feeling with this hill. I think when you can enjoy a run of downhill skiing, then you usually can ski with speed." 

For many, though, "enjoyable" is not a word they'd use. It was bumpy and rattly, and the conditions were tough. That didn't bother Ryan, though. "It's definitely a bit of a mental challenge," Ryan continued. "You have to constantly, in your head, be pushing it, just knowing that you're not at the finish yet. I feel very solid with my skiing right now. For me, this year, is just about trying to improve every race so that I can get myself into a competitive position. Racing a lot of events is advantageous when you're feeling good and feeling confident, and that's where I'm at right now. I enjoy kicking out of the start gate and I have fun with it, and I think that's one of the reasons I'm able to be consistent right now." 

Steven Nyman was 18th while Jared Goldberg moved from bib 42 to 22 on Saturday. Sam Morse, Bryce Bennett, Thomas Biesemeyer and Travis Ganong all started but did not finish in the top-30. Wiley Maple did not start on Saturday.