Janka wins his maiden classic
Switzerland has a new hero in Carlo Janka. The twenty three year old gave the rest of the field a lesson in how to conquer the fearsome and long Lauberhorn course. When he crossed the line to emphatically snatch the lead from Canadian Manny Osborne-Paradis, Janka did not have the energy at first to do more than raise his fingers in acknowledgement of the crowds delight in him taking the lead. Apart from a few small errors higher up, Janka glided, jumped and tucked better than all the rest. This was poetry in motion. Marco Buechel, who admitted later that he almost quit earlier this season after a run of poor results had been the first of the big names and had held the lead for a few racers. Werner Heel had challenged but ended up one hundredth behind and then Miller had come down and was heading for the lead before over extending his upper body and sliding down on his inside ski with the finish in sight. Buechel admitted that his nerves were frayed with the closeness of the racing: Andrej Jerman had also tested his nerves coming in four hundredths behind, a time that was matched by Didier Cuche later on.
Carlo Janka joined the list of greats to have won on the classic Lauberhorn course. Janka is the new young jewel in the crown of the resurgent Swiss team. Janka has picked up the baton left by the accident to Daniel Albrecht at Kitzbuehel last year and with a World Championship Gold already in his collection, the 23 year old is now a real threat for the overall title. For now Janka admits “that we will see who the best is at the end of the season.” Janka skied an almost perfect run down the longest course on the world cup tour. For Janka it was the Brueckli S that was the key part “for me today and the whole week. I have taken out a whole heap of speed and that was the main difference between me and the other guys,” reflected the new star of the sport in the press conference afterwards. “I had no power in the final S,” agreed Janka and this was evident as he fought to recover his breath at the end of over two and a half minutes of full on racing. Janka was a good two kilometres an hour slower than Klaus Kroell through the last speed gun yet it was his smooth technique all the way down that meant he was faster in time.
This was one of the most exciting races for a long time; it certainly lived up to its Classic billing. Cuche may have limped into fifth and with four Swiss in the top eleven plus Liechtenstein’s Buechel, is the writing on the wall for the Austrian dominance of the speed event. Certainly the day had started badly for them as Christoph Gruber had crashed in warm up and was helicoptered off the hill with concussion and bruising to his knee. With just one racer in the top ten, Klaus Kroell in ninth, the Austrians will be looking for much better next week in Kitzbuehel.
For Marco Buechel this was, in his words, a great feeling. The 38 year old has already announced he will be hanging up the skis at the end of the season – watch out for his special attire that he has planned for his final race in Garmisch! “I turned around and saw the crowd going wild for me but I was so turned and had to think if my dream had come true!” he explained. “It feels so good that the people cheer for and the crowd going wild because I am in the lead – it is so nice!” With racers edging ahead, dropping behind with each split, it was not sure until each racer crossed the line as to who would lead. Buechel suffered the worst with Heel & Jerman millimetres behind him and then Miller ahead before crashing: “This cost me a lot of nerves!”
Last year Buechel took sixth place just behind his good friend, Canadian Manny Osborne-Paradis, and he had to check pictures of the Canadian as he had admitted that he had failed to do up his boots prior to the run: “I had to check the internet after he had gone on to Kitzbuehel,” Buechel admitted. This time there was no buckle issue.
Osborne-Paradise had been quick out of the gate and took the fastest first split. Yet in the next sector, a couple of wayward moments cost him dear. Good sections and bad sections followed and by the time he crossed the line he edged out Buechel and it was then a case of wait and see. Osborne-Paradise is not a renowned trainer yet he now “skis hard on race day as that is the run that counts.” Osborne-Paradise took the decision not to do the slalom after the Downhill section of the Super Combined and when asked what had felt different, he was very forthright in saying “Nothing!” before adding “When you are not on the front of your boot and on your heels you are hitting every single bump and today I was on the front of my boot and I was hitting all the bumps faster. It felt the exact same except that today I was trucking more speed. On race days you feel that burning in the legs but you just push through it yet in training runs you do not push so hard,” explained the twenty five year old Canadian who has now risen to third in the downhill rankings behind Cuche and Janka and just ahead of Walchhofer.
For many racers it just did not happen today: Svindal being one of them. One poor day does not ruin a season and you can be assured that the Norwegian will be planning his attack ready for Vancouver in less than a month. The Austrian team are starting to get concerned as the conveyer belt of talent does not seem to be producing the depth all the way down. The energy and drive that Urs Lehman, head of the Swiss team, is delivering is having benefits all the way down. Take Super Combi Friday for example: First Lehman commentated on the Downhill then it was a helicopter ride off to the World Cup snowboarding in Veysonnaz to entertain sponsors. It was then back to Wengen for the slalom run and following that he was greeting all the sponsors of the Swiss team and showing them around the new communications centre at the finish. This is how the Swiss are bringing new sponsors in and being able to develop their talent pool. A quick look at the Europa Cup tables sees a vast number of Swiss racers dominating, something that clearly has the Austrians rattled. With no podiums yet this weekend, pressure is on Herbst, Pranger, Hirscher and Raich to deliver: Should the same happen in Kitzbuehel next weekend and then the knives would certainly be out: Batten down the hairdryers!
Train rides and helicopter rides is what Wengen is all about. This is the most unique event yet even for Carlo Janka who admitted that the “slow way of life up here” is strange. The three podium winners get flown from the finish area to the press conference by helicopter with the winner being buzzed down the slope for extra kicks!
Janka is fast becoming the star. While he will sit out the Slalom, this will give Raich et al the opportunity to score some points – will they take the opportunity?
Listen to Marco Buechel in the finish explaining about how tired and exciting the race is.
Listen to Carlo Janka in the press conference
