ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP 1997/98
Kitzbuhel (AUT) Men's 7th Downhill. 23.Jan.1998
1st/Cuche Cuche/FinishLine
1st / Didier Cuche(SUI) First Win Didier Cuche
Cuche wins Kitzbuhel Sprint DH

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (Jan. 23) -- Didier Cuche of Switzerland took the lead on the first run and held on for his first World Cup victory. the winning two-run time was 2:31.55 with Frenchman Nicolas Burtin runner-up in 2:31.69. French and Swiss racers filled the first five places. World Cup leader Hermann Maier of Austria is skipping the weekend races while resting inflamed shins.
Tommy Moe (Jackson, WY) skied a solid second run Friday and finished 11th in a 2-run "sprint" downhill opening Hahnenkamm Weekend in Kitzbuehel. It was the best result for the 1994 Olympic DH champion since injuring his right knee in March 1995.
Moe was tied with Italian Erik Seletto in 11th with a total time of 2:32.38. AJ Kitt (Boulder, CO) was 19th with Kyle Rasmussen (Angels Camp, CA) 25th. Saturday, the 58th Hahnenkamm, the showpiece men's downhill, is scheduled with a slalom Sunday to complete a combined event.
"Things are coming around. They guys' intensity and focus are pretty good. They're getting better and better, and things seem to be coming around," Head Coach Bill Egan said. "It was good for Tommy -- he's very happy -- and I'm hoping we can follow-up on this [Saturday] in the big one.
Little mistakes on a short course (2.02-km), where there's no room for error, hurt the U.S. men, the coach said.
"AJ was third in the first run but he made a mistake on the bottom of his second run, missed a right-hand turn and it cost him ... Tommy didn't ski great on the first run [he was 20th], he wasn't super on the last turn and that cost him a little but he was quite good all the way down on his second run ... Kyle can ski better; he knows it and he's know happy. He boned it in a couple of places but he knows there's no problem with his knee, just with some of his execution. He'll have a good one soon...
"The snow was great, the course was in great shape. This was planned as a sprint from the beginning; we've had a 2-run DH here for a couple of years. They like it for the crowd, and they liked for TV. It's a good warm-up for the Hahnenkamm, getting people fired-up. It'll be another big crowd."
Men's 7th Downhill, 23.01.1998
Rank Name Nat. Total
 1 CUCHE Didier  SUI   2:31.55
 2 BURTIN Nicolas  FRA   2:31.69
 3 CRETIER Jean-Luc  FRA   2:31.87
 4 GRUENENFELDER Juerg  SUI   2:32.04
 4 DUVILLARD Adrien  FRA   2:32.04
 6 SCHIFFERER Andreas  AUT   2:32.16
 7 PERATHONER Werner  ITA   2:32.22
 8 HERRMANN Markus  SUI   2:32.30
 8 GHEDINA Kristian  ITA   2:32.30
 10 KNAUSS Hans  AUT   2:32.35
 11 MOE Tommy  USA   2:32.38
 11 SELETTO Erik  ITA   2:32.38
 13 ORTLIEB Patrick  AUT   2:32.40
 14 MADER Guenther  AUT   2:32.42
 15 GREBER Christian  AUT   2:32.43
 16 FRANZ Werner  AUT   2:32.48
 17 EBERHARTER Stephan  AUT   2:32.51
 18 TRINKL Hannes  AUT   2:32.59
 19 KITT A J  USA   2:32.61
 20 STEMMLE Brian  CAN   2:32.81
 21 KERNEN Bruno Ii  SUI   2:32.86
 22 SAUDER Luke  CAN   2:32.87
 23 PAULSEN Lasse  NOR   2:32.92
 24 STROBL Fritz  AUT   2:32.96
 25 RASMUSSEN Kyle  USA   2:33.06
 26 FATTORI Alessandro  ITA   2:33.21
 27 STROBL Josef  AUT   2:33.22
 28 MARIN-CUDRAZ Frederic  FRA   2:34.57

Did not finish 1st run:
SIVERTSEN Kenneth (NOR)

Did not finish 2nd run:
ASSINGER Roland (AUT), AAMODT Kjetil Andre (NOR)

Disqualified 1st run:
DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel (FRA)

Did not qualify 2nd run:
BELL Graham (GBR), BREZAVSEK Ales (SLO), CATTANEO Luca (ITA), CAVEGN Franco (SUI), FLEISCHER Chad (USA), GALLI Lorenzo (ITA), GIGANDET Xavier (SUI), HASLER Juergen (LIE), HOFFMANN Ambrosi (SUI), JAERBYN Patrik (SWE), LESKINEN Janne (FIN), NYBERG Fredrik (SWE), PRETOT David (FRA), RUPP Heinrich (SUI), ROSENER Jason (USA), SPRENGER Ludwig (ITA), BESSE William (SUI), DENERIAZ Antoine (FRA), KRAUSS Stefan (GER), MARULLAZ Robin (FRA), PEN Peter (SLO), PODIVINSKY Ed (CAN), PUCKETT Christopher (USA), RUNGGALDIER Peter (ITA), SCHWARZACHER-JOYCE Paul Patrick (IRE), SENIGAGLIESI Alberto (ITA)