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Reichelt on top of tight Wengen podium
WENGEN, Switzerland –The switch in the order of this year’s Wengen races proved the right decision as on Sunday bluebird skies and no wind provided the perfect background for the longest downhill race of the year.
On the 4422m long course, Hannes Reichelt laid down a flawless run and after already earning three podiums in Wengen he finally claimed his first Lauberhorn victory.
Behind Reichelt, a strong Swiss trio – Beat Feuz, Carlo Janka and Patrick Kueng finished in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for the pleasure of the 24000 people who came to the venue to cheer for them. Despite the 2 minutes, 36.14 seconds winning run time, today was one of the tightest downhills we have seen this year as Feuz and Janka finished 0.12 and 0.14 seconds behind Reichelt respectively.
“It was really a close race so I am really happy I was the one on the top of the podium today. The course and conditions were really good especially as we know how much snow we got the day before the race. I want to thank everyone who worked hard to make the race happen, they really did a great job,” Reichelt said.
Feuz was 10th in Friday’s downhill section of the Alpine Combined and was less than pleased with his skiing but was able to learn from it and find his speed in today’s event.
“I was not happy with how I skied in the Combined downhill so I decided to just give it all I had in today’s race and it paid off,” Feuz said.
Over 40 centimeters of snow fell on the track in the past days but all was cleared off the racecourse and racers were full of praise for the organizers.
“The course was in great shape and for that we have to thank all the workers, without their work we wouldn’t have had a chance to have the race here today,” Feuz said. “It’s hard to say what is it with the Swiss team and Wengen – maybe it’s our way of saying thank you to all the people that make the race happened, take care of all of our wishes and keep us confortable during the week,” he continued.
After winning the Alpine Combined on Friday, Janka quickly became a favorite for today’s race but a mistake proved costly and landed him in third place.
“I have a bit of mixed emotions, a podium is always a podium so I am happy about that but I made one mistake too many and Hannes had a great race so he deserved the win. It’s always good when we can perform well in front of a the home crowd and I think today the whole team had a good day,” Janka said.
The Swiss did indeed have a great day as apart from Feuz, Janka and Kueng four more Swiss skiers finished among the best 12 in the race.
Next stop for the men is another classic – Kitzbuehel where the first downhill training on the Hahnenkamm is scheduled already on Tuesday.
On the 4422m long course, Hannes Reichelt laid down a flawless run and after already earning three podiums in Wengen he finally claimed his first Lauberhorn victory.
Behind Reichelt, a strong Swiss trio – Beat Feuz, Carlo Janka and Patrick Kueng finished in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for the pleasure of the 24000 people who came to the venue to cheer for them. Despite the 2 minutes, 36.14 seconds winning run time, today was one of the tightest downhills we have seen this year as Feuz and Janka finished 0.12 and 0.14 seconds behind Reichelt respectively.
“It was really a close race so I am really happy I was the one on the top of the podium today. The course and conditions were really good especially as we know how much snow we got the day before the race. I want to thank everyone who worked hard to make the race happen, they really did a great job,” Reichelt said.
Feuz was 10th in Friday’s downhill section of the Alpine Combined and was less than pleased with his skiing but was able to learn from it and find his speed in today’s event.
“I was not happy with how I skied in the Combined downhill so I decided to just give it all I had in today’s race and it paid off,” Feuz said.
Over 40 centimeters of snow fell on the track in the past days but all was cleared off the racecourse and racers were full of praise for the organizers.
“The course was in great shape and for that we have to thank all the workers, without their work we wouldn’t have had a chance to have the race here today,” Feuz said. “It’s hard to say what is it with the Swiss team and Wengen – maybe it’s our way of saying thank you to all the people that make the race happened, take care of all of our wishes and keep us confortable during the week,” he continued.
After winning the Alpine Combined on Friday, Janka quickly became a favorite for today’s race but a mistake proved costly and landed him in third place.
“I have a bit of mixed emotions, a podium is always a podium so I am happy about that but I made one mistake too many and Hannes had a great race so he deserved the win. It’s always good when we can perform well in front of a the home crowd and I think today the whole team had a good day,” Janka said.
The Swiss did indeed have a great day as apart from Feuz, Janka and Kueng four more Swiss skiers finished among the best 12 in the race.
Next stop for the men is another classic – Kitzbuehel where the first downhill training on the Hahnenkamm is scheduled already on Tuesday.
Source: fis-ski.com
