VAL D’ISERE, France — The men’s downhill contenders want sunshine and bright light for their world championship race Saturday. They almost certainly won’t get it.
The signature race of the two-week championships was already a tough assignment on a steep and icy Bellevarde slope that is largely unknown to the elite speed racers like Bode Miller and Didier Cuche.
Now they’re looking for help from the weather to light up the twisting terrain and guide them down the fastest — and safest — racing line.
“It will be a good race if it’s sunshine on Saturday,” said Didier Defago, the Swiss skier who won the last two World Cup downhills.
Yet the forecast calls for light snow and more of the heavy cloud cover that made Thursday’s first training session a cautious affair, keeping the skiers well out of their comfort zone.
Miller was fastest along most on the 1.86-mile course in training Friday before easing on the heavily watered final section.
“You’ve got to be fast on the top and the last 25 seconds is full-on, glazed, bulletproof ice,” said the 31-year-old American, who won the downhill world title in 2005.
Skiing’s governing body, the International Ski Federation (FIS), made no apologies for the course preparation.
“It will be a challenging downhill,” men’s race director Guenther Hujara said. “The mountain will not change, the gradient will not change, the surface will not change.”
“This is different to the downhills we know,” Defago said. “It has a lot of turns. Maybe in some parts, like at Kitzbuehel, you need courage.”
It was at Kitzbuehel where Switzerland’s Daniel Albrecht crashed last month after losing control in midair within sight of the finish line. He remains in an induced coma to treat lung and brain injuries after his Jan. 22 fall.
To help avoid similar accidents, organizers on Friday remodeled the final jump to stop racers from flying too far through the air.
