Super G Wins For Venier & Kriechmayr

On a weekend of surprises in Crans Montana, Stephanie Venier (AUT) added her own chapter to the story by triumphing against the odds in Sunday's super-G.

A day after Marta Bassino (ITA) won her first World Cup downhill race, Venier claimed her maiden World Cup super-G victory in the Swiss resort, seven years after her first podium in the discipline.

In a super-G that seemed more suited to technical specialists with sweeping turns at the top and bottom of the piste, Venier defied the course set by skiing the middle section better than anyone to finish first in 1:16.52.

On a course designed by their coach that maximised their giant slalom skills, Italian duo Federica Brignone (+0.04s) and Bassino (+0.15s) rounded out the podium to complete a successful weekend for both skiers.

But it was Venier who established a big lead after skiing a brilliant second sector coming onto the flats, and despite losing significant time to Brignone on the turny lower section, she held on to shade the Italian by four hundredths of a second.

"I did some mistakes, but all in all I'm very happy now," said Venier, 30, whose two previous World Cup victories had come in downhill, including one last month in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

"The last days (10th and 17th in the two Crans Montana downhills) wasn't that easy for me with all the pressure, and I had nothing to lose today.

"My ground speed is good and I handled it great I think."

Did she ever, putting the disappointment of Friday and Saturday behind her and returning to her form from Cortina three weeks ago, when she finished in the top five in all three speed contests, including finishing second in the super-G race.

Venier's sensational run on Sunday allowed her to do something that hasn't always been easy for anyone in Crans Montana: finish ahead of Brignone, who has won four World Cup races in the Swiss resort, all in Alpine combined.

The Italian veteran, sixth and second in the two downhills on Friday and Saturday, skied cleanly throughout and thrived on the bottom section to lead after the first six racers, with only Venier managing to overtake her.

"Four hundredths are burning a little bit but it has been an amazing weekend for me in Crans Montana," Brignone said.

She was left to rue a late line into the last turn before the flats that caught out several skiers, precisely on the part of the Mont-Lachaux course where Venier separated herself from the pack.

"I had to put too much pressure on the right foot before the flat and I lost the speed," said Brignone, but that mistake didn't dampen her enthusiasm for Crans Montana, where she has now reached nine World Cup podiums.

"I really like the slope: it's steep, it's technical and it's amazing," she said.

Her teammate Bassino skied easily the best top section of the field coming off Saturday's win, but lost momentum in a similar way to Brignone coming onto the middle flat section to scrub off time that she couldn't recover.

"I think I made a mistake before the flat, but anyway I tried to stay focused on myself and tried to feel the speed," Bassino said.

"In general the feeling was a little bit strange because the snow was really soft, especially in the last part. It was like the feeling of skiing on water."

Overall World Cup leader Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) finished sixth after a gruelling weekend to retain her edge in the super-G standings, five points ahead of Cornelia Huetter (AUT, fifth) and 34 clear of Brignone with three races left.

"It's always nice to race at home but those weekends are the most intense so I'm happy that it's over in the end," said the Swiss star, who won Friday's first downhill and came third on Saturday.

 For the men  Kriechmayr added the super G win to his downhill second place in Norway yesterday. An exciting day of racing in Norway saw a late season charge from Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) inject new life into the men’s speed season. Marco Odermatt (SUI) finished joint third, meaning the race for the super G crystal globe will go down to the World Cup finals in Saalbach.

It has been Kriechmayr’s weekend. On Saturday, the Austrian veteran was at his buccaneering best as he raced to second place in the downhill in Kvitfjell. On Sunday, he went one better, showing all his race savvy to boss the super G.

On a piste shortened due to weather conditions, Kriechmayr saw the line better than his opponents. He carried remarkable speed out of the mid-course turns, and skied the final pitch quicker than his rivals.

Jeffrey Read (CAN) got second place with an smooth, relaxed and mistake-free early run, finishing +0.17 seconds adrift, to record the best FIS World Cup result of his career.

Tied for third, +0.19 behind, were Dominik Paris (ITA), who loves skiing at Kvitfjell but didn’t hit his previous heights here, and Odermatt (SUI) – who clocked his first podium at the Norwegian resort, which is one of his least successful hunting grounds.

Odermatt could have won the super G crystal globe here by finishing ahead of Kriechmayr, but hasn’t looked at his supreme best in Norway.

Kriechmayr was formidable. “The top of my run was pretty good and also in the bottom, in the middle there was one turn that was not perfect, but I tried to push on the limit,” he said. “On the Tommy Moe, I made speed for the finish.”

He was not optimistic about overhauling the Swiss racer in the super G standings, however. Kriechmayr will realistically need Odermatt to have an off day in Saalbach to stand a chance. “There is no hope, Odermatt is impressive,” he said. “He is 80 points in front so I am not hoping for the globe.”

Here, Odermatt saw a slightly inferior line and a small error slow down his otherwise typically aggressive performance – but it all still represented progress, he declared.

“It is very cool, I am very happy with a podium here,” he said. “It is another step in the right direction at this venue.

“I thought it was two small mistakes. I planned to ski the Tommy Moe really high like Vince did to get the speed, but I couldn’t make it, and that was a little bit annoying. So the first thought at the finish was ‘ah, not again’.”

Read, meanwhile, was delighted with his first World Cup podium. “I’m really excited, and happy with how I was able to throw it down out there,” he said. “Kvitfjell is always a notoriously tight race. I love this race and it is so much fun, and a great vibe.

“It’s tough to be close [to winning], especially when I feel I gave it up just on the bottom. I lost more than three tenths there, but for me it’s the first time even close to the lead, and the first time in a podium position, so I’m excited.”

Read believes the Norwegian conditions helped him feel comfortable. “There’s something about the snow I think. It is similar to home, what we train on,” he said. “It gives you confidence and it clicks when you are here.”

The son of Canadian ski legend Ken Read added that the ‘Crazy Cannuck’ would be going wild back home.

“My dad lost his last grey hair a while ago,” he said. “He is at home cheering away. He’s always let me carve my own path. My dad was so good, he realised the presence he had, and he didn’t lay expectation on us.

“I see his gondola in Kitzbühel, all the races he won, it’s hard not to notice, but I use it as inspiration.”

Paris, a master of this course, saw Kriechmayr’s mid-course turns as the key to the win.

“He did very well on the Tommy Moe – maybe he watched me on the last race,” he said with a laugh. “I had a little mistake on the Tommy Moe today to bring the speed to the bottom. If you do well there it makes a big difference to the other guys.

“I think it was good skiing, maybe not the best but the result makes me happy.”