Swiss veteran Didier Cuche, fresh from announcing his imminent retirement, ensured a dream ending on the toughest downhill of the World Cup circuit.
Cuche stormed to a convincing victory on the Hahnenkamm, his 19th World Cup victory and fifth success in the demanding downhill that was cut short because of snow and low-lying fog.
The 37-year-old Cuche bettered the previous record for downhill wins on the mountain he jointly held with Austrian ski legend Franz Klammer.
Photo: EPA
“He’s the king of Kitzbuehel now,” 1976 Olympic downhill champion Klammer said of Cuche, who could only finish 15th in Wengen last weekend.
Having won the World Cup downhill title in four of the past five seasons, Cuche remains in contention for a record-equaling fifth globe this year and his victory saw him move into second place in the discipline standings behind Beat Feuz.
Cuche, who announced this week that he will retire at the end of the season, timed 1 minute, 13.28 seconds.
His time was 0.24 seconds ahead of Austria’s Romed Baumann, with another Austrian, Klaus Kroell, a further 0.06 seconds adrift.
Austrian Joachim Puchner missed out on the podium by just 0.06 seconds, while France’s Johan Clarey finished fifth.
Up-and-coming Swiss racer Feuz, winner of last week’s downhill on home snow in Wengen, clocked 1 minute, 13.73 seconds after a strong bottom half to finish sixth.
American veteran Bode Miller, a former two-time World Cup overall champion, did well to avoid a nasty fall after showing immense strength to drag back a ski of which he momentarily lost control.
However, the error saw Miller finish 1.35 seconds adrift in 29th.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
RSS