Swiss skier Cuche wins World Cup super-G ahead of Austrian rivals Walchhofer, Streitberger

Didier Cuche wins World Cup super-G

KITZBUEHEL, Austria — Didier Cuche of Switzerland won a men’s World Cup super-G race on Friday for his third victory of the season and 12th overall.

Cuche finished the 2,260-meter Streifalm course in 1 minute, 17.94 seconds. Austria’s Michael Walchhofer was 0.28 seconds back, and teammate Georg Streitberger another 0.01 behind.

“It took a long time, but I really enjoy winning here,” said Cuche, who became the first Swiss skier to win a super-G in Kitzbuehel. “I got that good feeling from the start of the season back in Wengen last week. I had not pushed to the limits since my crash in Val d’Isere.”

Cuche won the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, and a downhill in Lake Louise, Alberta.

He earned his third win thanks to a strong finish. He was 0.29 behind Walchhofer going into the lower section but chose the right line for the highest speed.

“I just loving race here,” Cuche said. “It’s always a lot of fun. It’s the hardest hill in the World Cup.”

Carlo Janka of Switzerland trailed Cuche by 1.02 but kept the lead in the overall standings with 769 points. Second-place Benjamin Raich of Austria finished 0.27 behind Janka and has 743 points. Cuche is third with 626.

Walchhofer was “very satisfied” despite just missing out on a second super-G title after winning in Val d’Isere in December.

“The middle section was top class, I had so much speed there,” the Austrian said. “Maybe I held back a bit too much before the final section. That’s made the difference.”

Bode Miller of the United States skied off course early in his run but was fast on the lower section to finish 0.81 behind.

Andrew Weibrecht and Marco Sullivan shared 11th, 0.70 behind Cuche, and were the fastest Americans.

The Hahnenkamm races continue with a downhill race on the Streif course Saturday.