Swiss skier Janka opens Lauberhorn with a bang
Carlo Janka won the super combined event on Friday giving the Swiss team a perfect start to the annual Lauberhorn World Cup ski event above the resort of Wengen.
Second in the discipline, which included a downhill and a slalom, was Italy’s Peter Fill, while Janka’s teammate Silvan Zurbriggen came third.
It was Janka’s second World Cup victory and gives the Swiss a confidence boost ahead of Saturday’s classic downhill race.
Daniel Albrecht led the standings after the downhill race but finished sixth overall.
Janka, who comes from canton Graubünden, is considered one of a new generation of versatile athletes who are capable of making a name in practically all skiing disciplines.
He’s already provided this by finishing second in the downhill at Lake Louise and winning the giant slalom at Val d’Isère.
“To win a World Cup classic at home, in front of my home crowd, is a real achievement,” Janka said.
“It’s my second win, which shows this is my season but it’s also a great team performance with Silvan on the podium.”
The last Swiss winner of the Wengen super combined event was Paul Accola in 1992.
Classic downhill
Switzerland’s Didier Cuche will make another attempt on Saturday to win the one big race that has eluded him during his long career – the classic downhill.
The race in the Bernese Oberland is this year considered an important test for the World Ski Championships, which take place in the French resort of Val d’Isère at the beginning of February.
The last two Lauberhorn races have seen a duel between Cuche and Bode Miller from the United States, with Miller winning both by 65 hundredths of a second each time.
On Saturday (starting at 12.30 pm) Cuche, who hails from Neuchâtel, will try to gain revenge in a race that is one of the most prestigious on the ski circuit.
The other big course is the Streif in Kitzbühel, Austria, which Cuche won last year.
During training, Cuche showed his determination to be the 2009 winner, coming down the world’s longest run of 4,445 metres ahead of the pack in Wednesday’s opening training race.
“Good feeling”
“It’s easier to return to a piste on which you have a good feeling and achieved good results in the past. It’s reassuring to win the first training session; it gives me confidence for what is to come,” he said.
The Lauberhorn, with its legendary sections like the Hundschopf, the Brüggli-S or the scary Ziel-S just before the finish line, which has been slightly modified this year to provide more safety, is an unique course for experienced skiers.
“It’s no coincidence that Bode Miller and I finished in front over the last two years,” said 34-year-old Cuche, a veteran of 15 World Cup seasons.
Even though Cuche is a respectable fifth in the World Cup standings half way through the season, 154 points behind the leader Benjamin Raich of Austria, he’s had a few difficulties in his favourite discipline since October and his best result was fifth place in the downhill in Bormio.
The next three weeks will be decisive for the two-time winner of the crystal globe in the discipline. There are downhills at the Lauberhorn, then Kitzbühel, which he particularly likes, Garmisch in Germany and the World Championships.
Good chance
Another experienced Swiss skier, Didier Défago, is also in with a good chance on Saturday. Second behind Cuche in the first training race, the 32-year-old from canton Valais and the eternal outsider in the Swiss team has enjoyed a good season with a second place at the Super-G in Val Gardena and six finishes in the top ten.
Having disappointed supporters last weekend at Adelboden, the first of the two Swiss World Cup events, they will be trying to win back favour with the crowds who turn up beneath the Eiger, Mönch and Jungrau, the three imposing Bernese mountains that provide a majestic backdrop to the Lauberhorn races.
The third event at Wengen, Sunday’s slalom, will not provide any great satisfaction within the Swiss camp, unless there is a surprise. It is not a discipline that the Swiss have excelled in this season. At the last two events in Zagreb and Adelboden, no Swiss qualified for the second run.
Plagued by doubt, Zurbriggen, Berthod and Marc Gini would be happy with a podium finish to win back confidence before the World Championships.
The fact is that Switzerland has the means to win a medal in every discipline in Val d’Isère. The countdown starts in Wengen.
swissinfo, based on an article in French by Samuel Jaberg and agencies
The 79th International Lauberhorn Ski Races take place from January 16 – 18 at Wengen in the Bernese Oberland.
The Lauberhorn downhill and the Streif in Kitzbühel are the two classics on the ski calendar. The Lauberhorn is the equivalent of what Wimbledon is for tennis, Monte Carlo for Formula 1 and Paris-Roubaix for cycling.
The skiing weekend, with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in the background, is important for promoting tourism in the Bernese Oberland region.
In 2008, the Lauberhorn downhill attracted the most TV viewers in Switzerland after the Euro 2008 football championships. More than one million people watched it.
The last Swiss to win the downhill was the Bernese skier Bruno Kernen in 2003.
Results from Friday’s super combined event:
1) Carlo Janka (Switzerland)
2) Peter Fill (Italy)
3) Silvan Zurbriggen (Switzerland)
Other Swiss:
Daniel Albrecht (6)
Didier Défago (12)
Sandro Viletta (17)
Patrick Küng (19)
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.