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Weather holds the trump cards for Vonn

Cometh the wind cometh the racer! Lindsey Vonn proved that she is THE number 1 racer when it comes to speed racing on the Women's Tour. High winds and snow caused the cancellation of the Super Combined on Friday yet with snow falling and the wind challenging the racers, Vonn was fast, clean and precise to out do all her rivals. Yet just as the Austrian TV crew were interviewing her as the race winner, young Johanna Schnarf from Italy and start number 32 started posting super fast times. Vonn broke off the interview as the commentator started to congratulate Vonn. Schnarf could not hold out for an improbable win yet was still delighted to have taken second, just 0.01seconds behind the American.

The race was one where the weather played a defining role. Many racers put in technically sound and good runs only for the wind and snow to make a mockery of their times. The Austrian women have not had a podium in Downhill on the World Cup for a year now and yet they were looking at one stage at having young Regina Mader on the podium. When the wind abated and allowed a number of racers starting outside of the elite top 30 racers to post super quick times, Mader's chance of a maiden podium result soon evapourated and she would eventually finish in eighth place.

The big loser in the wind debacle was Maria Riesch. Riesch was happy with only losing twenty points in the race for the overall to her friend yet when the weather changed a group of racers snuck in between her and Vonn, the gap grew from twenty to eventually 60 points that now gives Vonn and almost unassailable lead with just five races left including the Super G on Sunday. Vonn leads Riesch by 197 points after the Downhill.

Going down number 2, Chemmy Alcott looked to be on course for a decent run yet the snow was at its heaviest and this coupled with the wind, meant that Alcott struggled with the conditions and by the bottom was over a second behind the previous runner, Aurelie Revillet from France. For a while it looked like Alcott may hang of for some much needed cheer in taking some World Cup points but when the wind started to affect the times, Alcott rapidly dropped out of the thirty and eventually placed in 32nd spot, seven hundredths from a World Cup point.  Alcott was disappointed at the bottom yet where the weather is concerned there was nothing she could do. Alcott now has to put this out of her mind and concentrate on maintaining her position in the top 25 in the season long rankings so that she can make the World Cup Finals in Garmisch next week.

So Vonn wins by the slimmest of margins from Schnarf and Marianne Abderhalden from Switzerland taking third just one hundredth ahead of Marusa Ferk from Slovenia. Viktoria Rebesburg, the Olympic GS Champion took fifth. Apart from Vonn places two to five started outside the top 30 . This now means that the American has her hands on three of the six Crystal Globes with the Super Combined Globe needing to be ratified by the FIS Council next week in Garmisch. A fourth Globe, the Big one, the Overall is almost in her grasp.  Not a bad result for the season!