Swiss ski veteran Didier Cuche has won the downhill in the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel, becoming the first man to win the classic race for the fifth time.
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His victory comes just two days after the 37-year-old speed specialist from Le Pâquier in canton Neuchâtel announced his retirement from the sport at the end of the season.
Cuche, already the oldest skier to win a World Cup race, overtakes Austrian great Franz Klammer who won the downhill in Kitzbühel four times in the 1970s and 80s.
His time on the Streif course was 1:13.28 in heavy snowfall to beat Austrian pair Romed Baumann and Klaus Kröll by 0.24 and 0.30 seconds.
Overhanging cloud cover and snowfall led to the organisers lowering the starting gate which shortened the 3.3-kilometre course to 2 km.
Cuche is the reigning World Cup downhill and Super-G champion and won three previous downhill titles in 2010, 2008 and 2007, along with a giant slalom title in 2009.
He was named 2011 Swiss of the Year by television viewers earlier this month.
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Skier wins anniversary Swiss of the Year award
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Cuche won just under 22 per cent of the vote by people across the country on Saturday. The competition was launched in 2002 and the winners get their names engraved on a rock on an alpine meadow in central Switzerland. The 37-year-old was the runner-up in last year’s World Cup competition – making him the most…
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Hannes Reichelt of Austria came second ahead of Italy’s Christof Innerhofer and Carlo Janka of Switzerland. Feuz’s main rivals, American Bode Miller and Swiss skier Didier Cuche finished fifth and fifteenth respectively in Saturday’s event. The 4.5km Lauberhorn race is the longest downhill event of the World Cup circuit. Feuz was runners-up in Friday’s super-combined event…
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Cuche has thrilled fans since he first came to international prominence as a silver medal winner at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Excelling in downhill, super G and giant slalom, Cuche had his fair share of injuries over the years. He ends this season with a string of fresh victories to his credit.
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