FIS World Cup - Levi Finland Nov 14-15

[Johnny Style]

For those that like to get their race stoke on, there will be two World Cup Slalom races held over the weekend. Bode Miller will be competing for the first time this year and Ted Ligety is coming off of a second place GS finish in Soelden, AUT. Jimmy Cochran is coming off of a top ten finish in Slalom at the World Championships last year.

 

Could there be three Americans in the top ten this weekend? Doubtful. Look out for JB Grange of France. He is the defending World Cup Slalom champion and always seems to be in a faster gear than any other racer. He is like a cat out there. Of course the Men's field is stacked, anybody could take it.

 

As for the Women I see it as Vonn, Riesch and Zettel.

 

Look out for same day race coverage on Universal Sports TV.

Edited November 13, 2009 by Johnny Style

[Johnny Style]

The Woman's results were almost chalk (that's betting slang for the favorites winning).

 

1. Maria Riesch - Head/Lange/Tyrolia

2. Lindsey Vonn - Head/Head/Head

3. Tanja Poutiainen - Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

 

Maria and Lindsey look like they are going to battle for the Overall title all season long; just like they did last year. It's amazing that they are best friends and competing against each other at the top level in the world. I would probably end up hating my opponent but then again I am a competitive bastard. I hate to say that Lindsey "should have won" because this is ski racing and there is no "should have's" but her one mistake cost her the race. Heck, she was lucky to recover from that one turn.

 

 

Men

 

1 Reinfried Herbst - Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker

2 Ivica Kostelic - Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

3 Jean-Baptiste Grange - Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

 

Well, Bode was back and he actually qualified for the second run but he took a gate to the nose or grill and he skied out. He was bloodied up from that hit. Levi is flat on top, steep in the middle, and flat at the bottom. This is the type of course that benefits skiers like JB Grange and Ted Ligety. The problem was one gate and some ruts/holes at the beginning of the steeps. Most skiers carried too much speed into that section and lost time on the tricky gate,skied out, or wrecked. Frankly, it was an ugly race to watch due to the course.

 

When you have a tough course with a tricky gate you can always count on Ivica Kostlic doing well. His coach is his Father and is renown for setting tough courses to train on. JB Grange still got third because he is the best slalom skier in the world. I don't even know who this Herbst guy is who won the race.

 

The races were held in Levi, Finland above the arctic circle. They only get three hours of sunlight a day this time of year. It was kind of strange watching it on TV and then going hiking in the 70 degree temperatures here in PA.

 

Fun fact of the day. In the 1980s a World Cup slalom racer might hit 20 mph in the course on 203 cm straight slalom skis. Today, they hit speeds of 40 mph on 165 cm skis. That is some crazy progression, no wonder everybody gets hurt now.

[mbike-ski]

nice recap - there a good pic of bode's busted up nose on the universal site. gonna be an interesting year

 

interesting that you put equip sponsors vs nationality

Edited November 16, 2009 by mbike-ski

[nick malozzi]

2. Lindsey Vonn - Head/Head/Head

heh heh heh

[Johnny Style]

You could actually make the argument that to some of the racers, the equipment sponsor is more important to them than the nation they race for.

 

For equipment nerds like me I always like to see what people are riding. Five years ago nobody was on Head; now they own racing. Blizzard? I haven't seen them on the podium since the 1980s. It's great that those two proud companies are back in the game.

 

Next up, Lake Louise for the Men and Aspen for the ladies.

 

Having taken a few shots to the face last year in the course I feel for Bode.

 

[Bobert540]

Thanks for the update.... this is OT but you up for Monday night racing again?

[Johnny Style]

Thanks for the update.... this is OT but you up for Monday night racing again?

 

Yes! I even bought a speed suit in the off season to try and get within five seconds of your time. I'm totally addicted to racing now.

[mbike-ski]

Having taken a few shots to the face last year in the course I feel for Bode.

from bode's blog on universal sports... ouch

 

So here's what happened. The top of Levi has these rolls in it. I was going really fast forward into this off-rhythm turn and was focused on absorbing this big bump and being ready for the next gate. It's quick up there. The gate slipped through my hand then got on the inside of my shin-guard. The gate went down on top of my thigh. It sort of wrapped around my thigh then sprang up really hard and whipped me right in the face. So it was a series of things. It can happen but it's really not that common. It's not common to hit the gate right in that position where it can work that way. It hit my nose and lip and cut the bridge of my nose in a couple little spots. I was lucky I had my goggles on because it was a really, really hard hit. It was pretty intense. It almost knocked me out. I couldn't see for a second and slalom is so quick that I was out of the course before I had a chance to do anything. It hurt really bad for about five minutes, then it went numb and felt OK after that. It wasn't that big a deal it just sucks I didn't finish obviously. My face is still sore today but the swelling has gone down a lot. It was just massive and swollen at first.

[toast21602]

You could actually make the argument that to some of the racers, the equipment sponsor is more important to them than the nation they race for.

 

For equipment nerds like me I always like to see what people are riding. Five years ago nobody was on Head; now they own racing. Blizzard? I haven't seen them on the podium since the 1980s. It's great that those two proud companies are back in the game.

 

 

i noticed that too. i'm not a big gear guy like you, but i have definitely noticed the comeback of some companies... and not only in racing.