Cuche wins the double
Monday January 25, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

He won the Super-G and then the Downhill, an amazing achievement. He conquered the Hahnennkamm, perhaps the most famous race of them all, on Saturday.

For the Swiss racer it has been one of his best weekend's racing - beating the Austrians in their own back yard in the classic race down The Strief.

On Friday he pushed the Austrian Michael Walchoffer into second place and another Austrian, Georg Streitberger, into third in the Super-G.

Bode Miller came a disappointing 17^th, though the British racer Ed Drake came 2.38 seconds behind Cuche and though that only put him in 42^nd place it was a very good race for Drake.

See this separate PlanetSKI story on Drake's race and an interview with him after.

But at the top of the pile it all belonged to Cuche. In the downhill the 35 year old came way ahead of his real rivals; Svindal came 5^th, Miller 9^th, and Jenka 11^th.

Didier Cuche became only the third racer to complete this unique double of winning the Super-G and Downhill in Kitzbühel, on the same weekend.

“I am very proud to have managed to have won both races,” enthused Cuche after the race. Here's an interview with Cuche this weekend, courtesy of FIS on You Tube.

Cuche has now won on the full length course, the sprint course and shortened course for his third win in the Kitzbühel Downhill.

Austria’s Michael Walchhofer, winner of the event in 2006, had a spectacular fall, crashing through three safety nets.. He was unhurt and skied down the course afterwards.

Here's how Cuche conquered the notorious Hahnennkamm in Kitzbühel.

Our content editor, James Cove, is in the Swiss Alps at the moment and watched some of the race on TV in a bar at lunchtime.

"I'm in the resort of Champery in the Portes du Soleil, an area that straddles France and Switzerland and it always good to watch a race while out in The Alps, especially if it is The Hahnennkamm. It was hilarious as the French showed no interest in the racing as they are having a very poor season while the Swiss were huddled round the small screen cheering on their heroes. The normally sedate Swiss were actually getting quite animated!"

The Swiss have had much to cheer about this season with the young racer Carlo Jenka doing well and now the veterans too.

Cuche victorious in the downhill