By the U.S. Ski Team and Idaho Mountain Express
She nearly skied into a fence and also fell on her hip in another race, but three-time defending World Cup women's overall queen Lindsey Vonn bounced back to claim 180 out of a possible 200 World Cup points last weekend at Zauchensee, Austria.
Vonn captured her fourth win of the season Saturday in the downhill at Zauchensee, Austria. She was second in Sunday's super giant slalom.
In the process, 26-year-old Vonn gained 90 points on current World Cup overall leader Maria Riesch, 26, of Germany. Riesch now has 923 points and Vonn 827, so the gap is 96.
No other woman is close to Riesch and Vonn in the overall—and Riesch has the lead despite not leading any of the disciplines. But she is a very strong all-event skier and her slalom and giant slalom has put her on top.
For instance, Vonn leads downhill with 360, super giant slalom with 180 and combined with 100, but is 13th giant slalom with 85 and 14th slalom with 72. Riesch is second to Vonn in downhill with 257, second in SG with 120 and second in slalom with 320.
In the men's standings, Croatia's Ivica Kostelic used his victory in Sunday's slalom at Adelboden, Switz. to vault into the overall lead with 504 points—253 of them coming from his first-place total in slalom.
Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway is currently in second place with 435 points, while U.S. technical ace and giant slalom leader Ted Ligety is fifth with 379 and Bode Miller 14th, 204.
The women's World Cup circuit's next stop was a night slalom in Flachau, Austria Tuesday, Jan. 11, just down the valley from Zauchensee.
The men's World Cup circuit will head to Wengen, Switzerland Jan. 11-16 for the famed Lauberhorn downhill as well as a slalom and super combined. Wengen, a favorite stop on the Tour, is the longest downhill on the circuit with tens of thousands of fans blanketing the base of the Eiger with flags, horns and cowbells in tow.
Success in speed at Zauchensee
Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) nearly skied into the fence Saturday, but reeled it back in to win the women's Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill in Zauchensee.
In the tiny mountain village nestled above Altenmarkt, just south of Salzburg, Vonn charged out of the gate to beat the women's downhill field by .43, marking her second career World Cup win and fourth podium in Zauchensee.
She puzzled over the trend she has experienced of escaping trouble.
"I don't know what's gotten into me this year. I seem to be making big mistakes in almost every downhill that I race in and still have a good result," Vonn said. "For me, it's just a matter of keeping my cool—staying cool when you make mistakes."
Despite warm temperatures and taking a wide turn on Lechwald or the "Milka Turn" as it's known to U.S. coaches, Vonn proved once again she is the queen of speed making up time at the bottom of the course.
"It definitely got wild. I came into the last section with a lot of speed. I had a good line coming in, but I must have hit some soft snow," explained Vonn. "It cost me a lot of speed. I knew if I could carry my speed on the next left footed turn I could make some time up on the last couple of turns. I guess I did that, but it was tough."
Teammate and fellow Olympic champion Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) experienced trouble on the same section as Vonn finishing 16th. Mancuso finished the weekend in seventh place in the overall standings with 384 points.
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"It was a difficult race, but I'm happy to get the win today," Vonn said.
On Sunday, Olympic champion Vonn kept the podium streak alive in Zauchensee, finishing second in the super G behind Switzerland's Lara Gut. Vonn now has five consecutive top three results in the postcard Austrian valley.
Vonn, once again proved her focus, fighting the entire way to the finish. While exiting the extremely difficult Panorama turn, Vonn went down on her right hip, bounced back to her feet and nearly flew over the tip of her skis before regaining her balance and diving back into her tuck.
It was the fourth speed race this season where Vonn was able to turn what could have been a serious crash into a World Cup podium and Sunday was her career 71st World Cup podium.
"I really have to stop making those saves. It's probably pretty fun to watch on TV, but they're definitely not fast," joked Vonn. "But first and second is a great weekend. I'm skiing well but I could have cleaned up some sections and skied a little bit better."
Vonn led a trio of U.S. athletes inside the top 30. Mancuso finished 16th and Laurenne Ross (Klamath Falls, OR) in 23rd. The remainder of the U.S. women finished just outside of the World Cup points with Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) 31st, Leanne Smith (Conway, NH) 32nd and Chelsea Marshall (Pittsfield, VT) 34th.
Mancuso had a near mishap just out of the start, losing balance in her tuck, but was able to recover without losing a considerable amount of time to place just outside the top 15.
World Cup men at Adelboden
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom leader Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) put it all on the line Saturday before going down on his hip and breaking his string of three World Cup GS victories.
France's Cyprien Richard and Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal produced a rare tie for the win, while Olympic champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) finished 22nd and Ligety 28th.
There was a lot at stake on the line for Ligety as he slid into the start house for the first run of GS on the classic Adelboden course. He came in with a three GS win streak brewing and had a chance to be the first racer in 32 years to clinch four consecutive GS World Cup races in a single season.
Things were looking good after the first run as Ligety posted the fastest time, building a .36 cushion for the second run despite nearly sliding out near the finish. The win was in his reach as 30,000 fans echoed through the legendary alpine valley where the World Cup was born in early 1967.
Awaiting potential history, the fans cheered with support and excitement as Ligety kicked out of the start. However, it wasn't his day.
Tough light conditions and falling on his hip silenced his GS streak. As a loud sigh echoed from the crowd, Ligety bounced back into the course after letting out a frustrated scream to finish 28th.
Miller, the only other American to qualify for the second run, was one of just two racers outside of the top 30 to make the second run start list. With an incredibly tight first run, Miller squeezed into the flip with 26th and finished the day in 22nd.
On Sunday, Olympian Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA) skiied tactically smart on an incredibly difficult hill that eliminated many of the world's best to earn his first Audi FIS Alpine World Cup points in 24th. Kostelic of Croatia held the lead after the first run to clinch the slalom victory in Adelboden.
Warm temperatures and tough snow conditions, coupled with an extremely challenging hill, proved to be a tough fete for many of the top skiers in the world Sunday. Seventy-eight men pushed out of the start gate first run with 25 of them exiting the course early.
"That pitch is steep. Adelboden is not an easy place to score your first World Cup points, that's the really cool part about it," said Brandenburg. "Today was a big step in the right direction, reaching the finish line and getting that weight off my shoulders. Now I'll probably ski a little but more free and have more fun with it."
American Lindsey Vonn lays it over in Sunday’s Zauchensee super giant slalom race. Courtesy photo by Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty Images
