WENGEN, Switzerland — Klaus Kroell of Austria defeated Swiss veteran Didier Cuche to win the classic World Cup downhill race Saturday on the Lauberhorn. American Bode Miller was eighth.
Kroell finished in 2 minutes, 31.28 seconds on the tour’s longest track, edging Cuche by 0.14 seconds. Carlo Janka, the defending Lauberhorn champion from Switzerland, was third.
“It’s every downhiller’s dream to win a classic like Wengen,” said Kroell, who earned his third career World Cup win and second in downhill.
Cuche, 36, has finished runner-up three times in the prestigious race. He was second behind Miller in 2007 and 2008.
The popular racer responded to cheers in his home classic race by bowing theatrically and blowing kisses to fans on all sides.
“I’m very satisfied,” said Cuche, a three-time World Cup downhill champion. “Wengen is never easy and you have to be happy with a good performance.”
Cuche lost valuable time at halfway after passing through the railway bridge tunnel. His right ski appeared to catch an edge and he briefly lost his racing line.
“I knew I would need a perfect run to win and I probably had it until I made that mistake,” he said.
Austria got its third win in four men’s downhill races after being shut out last season.
Michael Walchhofer finished 11th to keep the lead in the discipline standings. He has 269 points, 19 more than Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland.
Kroell moved into third, 79 points back. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia stayed ahead in the overall standings after placing 12th.
Warm weather cancels GS.
The women’s World Cup giant slalom race in Maribor, Slovenia, was canceled because of warm weather that caused poor course conditions.
Temperatures were nearly 60 degrees, which softened the snow over the past few days.
