TNT Sports
Walchhofer chases Benni
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Published 28/01/2006 at 10:45 GMT
World Cup downhill champion Michael Walchhofer has happy memories of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, having won twice there last year. A similar haul this weekend on the lightning-fast Kandahar piste would edge him closer to overall World Cup leader and fellow Au
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Raich, who scores more heavily in the technical disciplines, holds a 248-point advantage over Walchhofer, although that comfortable cushion could be significantly squeezed this weekend.
Walchhofer, a former world downhill champion and one of the favourites for Olympic gold next month, is on a hot streak, having taken first place in the downhill last week at Kitzbuehel. It was his second victory and fourth podium in seven downhill World Cup events this season.
His task will be made easier by the absence of overall World Cup champion Bode Miller and possibly of Olympic downhill champion Fritz Strobl, although American Daron Rahlves, Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein and Austrian Hermann Maier will be pushing him hard.
Miller, fifth in the downhill standings during a somewhat disappointing season, will miss the two speed races at Garmisch-Partenkirchen to focus on training for the Winter Olympics which open in Turin on Feb. 10.
It is the first time the American has missed a World Cup race for four seasons.
Walchhofer's chief rival for the downhill title, team mate Strobl, underwent surgery on a broken hand after losing his balance in the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuehel and may decide not to risk racing in Saturday's downhill or Sunday's super-G.
CONSISTENT PERFORMER
Strobl, 33, has been a surprisingly consistent performer this season and despite the injury was third in training on Thursday, 0.84 seconds behind the fastest man, Kristian Ghedina of Italy.
The Austrian, who won a downhill in Garmisch in 2001 and a super-G the following season, said he had yet to decide whether to race at the weekend.
"The surgery went fine and the doctors put a piece of plastic over my hand. It's okay for skiing but I'll only decide tomorrow if I'll enter the races here or not," he told reporters.
"I feel some pain and I have to hold my arm above my body when I'm resting."
Raich posted his best downhill performance in the World Cup in Kitzbuehel last week, finishing 10th, although he is ranked only 26th in the discipline with 58 points to Walchhofer's 472.
"It doesn't really matter if Bode is racing here or not," Raich told reporters on Thursday after a cautious training run down a slope where he suffered concussion in a super-G crash two years ago. "I have my own agenda and I'd rather focus on my personal programme than on his."
Miller was third in Garmisch last year on the way to winning the overall title and the super-G championship last year.
U.S. team spokesman Marc Habermann said the break was part of a long-planned strategy to allow Miller to concentrate on the Olympics, where he will enter all five events. Miller won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
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