Like the women’s giant slalom in Semmering, the men’s World Cup downhill race at Bormio was canceled Monday after a heavy snowstorm nuked the course as action got underway.
The super-G on the legendary Stelvio piste is rescheduled for Tuesday, with the men’s downhill pushed to Wednesday for the last event of the calendar year.
Here’s FIS spokesman Markus Waldner with the no-go announcement:
Reigning World Cup slalom and giant slalom champion, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, is the odds-on favorite, with American Ryan Cochran-Siegle looking to extend his early-season podium streak.
Markus Waldner | "The safe wasn't under control" | Bormio | Men's Super G | FIS Alpine https://t.co/VsrSlTxqoz pic.twitter.com/kgzzI9Yepz
— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) December 28, 2020
As far as the men’s super-G goes, Swiss speed specialist Mauro Caviezel (4.5/1 on Betfair) followed up his win in the opening super-G event of this World Cup season in Val d’Isère with a second-place finish in Val Gerdena on Dec. 18. He can become the first male skier to reach the podium in a trio of opening super-G races since Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud did it in 2016-17.
Caviezel has also podiumed in each of the last four World Cup super-G races since a fourth-place finish in Kitzbühel in January. It is the current longest-running podium streak of all male skiers in this discipline.
Favored Kilde Has a Lot of Competition in Kriechmayr
At 32, Caviezel is in the midst of a late-career renaissance. His win at Val d’Isère was his first career World Cup victory in all disciplines. Last season, Caviezel became the third male skier to win the super-G crystal globe without winning a single World Cup super-G event after Pirmin Zurbriggen did it in 1987-88, and Franz Heinzer in 1990-91.
Also favored to the podium is Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (3.5/1), who won the most recent World Cup super-G race in Val Gardena on Dec. 18 to claim his third career win in the discipline. The Norwegian can become the first male skier to win consecutive World Cup super-G events since Italy’s Dominik Paris (13/1) did it in March 2019.
The last male skier representing Norway to claim successive World Cup super-G wins was Kjetil Jansrud in 2016. Kilde, who also won the super-G in Saalbach-Hinterglemm last February. Jansrudis the only male skier to win multiple World Cup super-G races in 2020.
Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr (6/1) has yet to podium in a World Cup super-G event this season. The 29-year-old finished fifth in the opening race in Val d’Isère and 15th in the most recent super-G in Val Gardena.
Despite his slow start this year, the 29-year-old was the only male skier to win multiple World Cup super-G
races last season. The Austrian won in Val Gerdena in December 2019, and in Hinterstoder in February. He can become the first male skier representing Austria to win multiple World Cup super-G events in a single calendar year since Hermann Maier in 2005.
Austrians Love Bormio, Multiple May Show on Podium in Super-G
Austrians also like Bormio when it comes to super-G. Three of the four men’s World Cup super-G winners were from Austria: Hannes Reichelt (2008), Maier (2000), and Richard Kröll (1995).
The only non-Austrian skier to win a men’s World Cup super-G event in Bormio was Italy’s Paris in 2018. Despite success in other disciplines, 31-year-old Paris hasn’t claimed a podium finish in each of his last four World Cup super-G appearances.
Those looking for a bit of a long shot should check out the line on Kjetil Jansrud (15/1). The 35-year-old Norwegian World Cup veteran finished third in the super-G race at Val Gardena and looks to claim his second podium in this discipline in 2020 after his victory in Kitzbühel on Jan. 24. Jansrud is the only man to have won a super-G event in each of the previous seven World Cup seasons.
