27 JAN 2001 > Men's Downhill
Revenge of the Outsiders
Downhill Results

The last men's World Cup downhill before the World Championships at St Anton ended with a surprising podium – none of the three top-finishers reached a top position this season while last year's winner Hermann Maier survived an impressive crash after losing his left ski in one of the fastest turns of the course.

Fritz Strobl, a two-time winner at Kitzbuhel, in 1997 and 1999, won his fifth downhill of his career by beating by 29/100 of a second his teammate Peter Rzehak and by 38/100 Switzerland's Franco Cavegn, who conquered his very first top-3 of his career. Cavegn and Rzehak both went through some hard times in recent seasons due to injuries. In fact, the Austrian has undergone four serious knee surgeries in the last five years.

"It make me stronger," Rzehak said, "and I'm ready to defend my chances next week" he said. Stephan Eberharter, 4th, regained the lead in the downhill World Cup standings after Maier's spectacular accident.

"I am lucky because it could have been a very bad crash at that speed...."

Only 15th, America's Daron Rahlves, never found his best rhythm on this treacherous Kandahar course, much slower today due to fresh snow which covered most of gliding section. The Californian, a surprising 3rd last week at Kitzbuhel, lost almost two seconds on the winner but it didn't affect his momentum.

"I relaxed a little after my great Austrian weekend and I wasn't as focused today after all the postponements because of the bad weather. I was looking for a strong yet safe run, but I feel ready to do much better in a few days at St Anton. I like the course there and I'm very motivated," Rahlves said. The US's Jakub Fiala finished 44th and Chad Fleischer, 48th.

Both Strobl and Rzehak needed a strong result today to have a chance to qualify in the strong Austrian team which aims to win half of the medals at St Anton. So far, only the defending World Champion Maier is sure to compete at St Anton in the speed events and in giant slalom — all the others must wait for the official confirmation given by their head coach Toni Giger on Sunday.

"I hope to have a chance now to compete at St Anton where I won a super G last winter, but I'm not sure, I may have to do another qualification procedure during the timed trials," Strobl said. "I had only a 3rd place this winter before this race and my chances were quite slim after my 8th place last week at Kitzbuhel where I certainly put too much pressure on myself to win" he added.

Six or seven Austrians will fight for the four remaining places in downhill at St Anton where the women's super G will take place in Monday, followed by the men's Super-G on Tuesday.

In Sunday's Super-G, Maier will fight for a spectacular comeback in the event which he has won twice since February 1997, when he celebrated his very first success on the World Cup tour. The Austrian superstar was quite lucky to survive this latest crash, only his fourth since 1997, and his first since since his spectacular crash at Kitzbuhel in January 1999. He was cruising at 70 miles and hour when the binding of his left skis exploded under the pressure in a difficult right turn. He reacted perfectly and was able to control his fall before hitting the fences. Then he ended his run on one ski as the crowd applauded.

He was pleased and angry at the same time at the finish line.

"I am lucky because it could have been a very bad crash at that speed," he said. "This kind of accident is part of our sport, you must always be ready, but this race should not have started with a delay of over two hours on the schedule. The conditions were unfair, it was windy when I skied. I don't agree to have such a race only a day before the Opening Ceremony of the World Championships."

It's not sure yet if his technicians will be able to fix his ski and replace the plate which came off. "Hermann puts so much pressure on his skis when he turns that such an event can happen," his ski rep said.

Also at the start will be the Norwegian duo of Lasse Kjus and Kjetil Aamodt, who didn't compete in the downhill to better prepare the World events at St Anton. Kjus showed better form at Kitzbuhel after his promising season start in North America.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

Email this story to a friend