Swiss ski racer Didier Cuche won the opening World Cup Men’s downhill Saturday afternoon at the Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart in the Alberta Rockies.
Cuche blazed down the classic 3,089 metre track on Whitehorn Mountain in one minute, 50.31 seconds. It was his tenth career World Cup downhill victory.
Italian Werner Heel was second, 44-hundretdths of a second behind Cuche. Carlo Janko, also of Switzerland was third.
“I’m really proud of that run. I’ve had trouble to be fast here at Lake Louise,” Cuche said on CBC-TV. “It’s a really gliding course and I managed the technical part really well and I had really fast skis.”
U.S. racer T.J. Lanning had to be air-lifted off the mountain to the medical clinic at the base of the ski hill after he injured himself in a tumbling crash. Lanning caught an edge and skied through a gate before crashing hard.
Calgary's John Kucera and teammate Robbie Dixon placed 6th and 8th to lead the Canadian team.
Visit the International Ski Federation website for full race results.
Racing continues Sunday at Lake Louise with a men’s super-G. Start time is 11 a.m.
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