GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Didier Cuche won his second consecutive World Cup downhill race on a shortened Kandahar course Saturday.
The 37-year-old Swiss veteran, who is retiring at the end of the season, was coming off his record fifth win in Kitzbuehel, Austria — which was also run on a shortened course.
“I am very proud of this win today,” Cuche said.
Cuche’s third downhill victory of the season took him to the top of the event standings.
Erik Guay of Canada finished second on a slope where he won the world championship title last year ahead of Cuche. Hannes Reichelt of Austria was third, leaving his team still without a win in a speed event this season.
Guay, still feeling the effects of a cold, had a rocky run on the course, nearly hitting the snow with his hip, then almost crossing skis and going off his line, but he made up time in the bottom part. Guay does well in the German resort, where he also clinched the super-G World Cup by winning the last race of the 2010 season.
“I always feel relaxed here, I love skiing here,” Guay said. “I took some chances today. I hit the snow with my boot, I thought it would be tough to make it to the finish and I was ecstatic when I saw I was first.”
Thick fog forced organizers to lower the starting gate, taking a significant chunk out of the classic course — nearly half of the vertical drop — and making the race about 50 seconds shorter.
