Swiss skier Didier Cuche took revenge for Kroell's win on Swiss snow by taking the win on Kitzbuhel's world famous Hahnenkamm this weekend.
Kitzbuhel is seen by many ski racers as the epitome of the race season. A tough course that includes steeps, jumps, bumps and difficult bends is one of the biggest races of the year and to some skiers offers more prestige than winning a World Cup or Olympic Gold. Every year the race doesn't fail to excite the huge crowds that turn out to watch, and this year should be no different.
The weekend was marred by a serious injury to Hans Gruber, who had been put into an artificial coma whilst being treated. Sadly he is the third skier in recent years to suffer a serious head injury on the course, with Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht only retuning to action last month, almost two years after his crash. I'm am sure the whole ski industry will join us is wishing Hans a speedy recovery and we hope to see him racing again.
After watching an Austrian skier taking the win at Wengen last week the Swiss team were out for revenge on Austria's most revered race, and thanks to the superb form four time winner Cuche, they got it. The win made Cuche both the oldest World Cup race winner at 36 and also equalled the number of Hahnenkamm wins of legend Franz Klammer.
The win was taken is style, having had a reasonable start, Cuche tore apart the competition in the middle and final sections of the race and finished with a huge margin of 0.98 seconds over the second placed Bode Miller. Miller, who looks to be coming back into his best form, equalled his previous best in Kitzbuhel with a second place finish, but could not match the class of the Swiss skier.
"There was just no beating Didier today. I'm 0.98 seconds behind so there's no regrets," said Miller. "I was happy with the amount of risk I took and the way that I skied. You take your hat off when you know you skied a great race and another person took more risk and executed better."
With the World Championships in Garmisch-Parternkirchen approaching fast some serious contenders are coming into form, and the Hahnenkamm was evidence of that. It was another incredible race and showed why this seasons F.I.S. World Cup is going to be difficult to win.
Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort
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