Feuz finally conquers Kitzbühel

Persistence and patience paid off for veteran Beat Feuz today at the Audi FIS World Cup downhill on the legendary Streif in Kitzbühel. After finishing in second place four times in his career, the Swiss could finally etch his name in the record books as the winner.

It was a marathon race that took nearly three hours to get 30 racers down the mountain. After the top-30 were down, the race was called off, leaving the remaining 25 racers without a start.

Feuz earned the win over Austrian Matthias Mayer, who finished 0.16 seconds behind. The duo has often been neck-in-neck for the victory in Kitzbühel, but this time it was Feuz who came out on top.

It was a wild ride for Feuz, who raced his way down the course on the limit. With the early bib #5, it was unclear, despite his fast pace, if the time would endure through the rest of the field. Feuz had to sweat through the next few racers as Mayer fell just short with bib #9 and eventual third-place finisher Dominik Paris finished a half second off the pace two skiers later.

The momentum was broken when American Ryan Cochran Siegle suffered a crash just before the traverse, causing a lengthy delay. The American was on two feet after the crash, but was still airlifted from the course. Four racers later Feuz’s teammate Urs Kryenbuehl suffered a serious crash on the finishing jump and was also airlifted from the course.

There was no immediate official report on either racer’s condition following their crashes, however a team representative from Swiss Ski said Kryenbuehl was conscious and speaking before he was evacuated.

After the two delays, the weather started to turn for the worse with a southerly wind creating dangerous conditions and creating further delays. In the end, once the top-30 racers were down the hill, everyone was happy breathe a sigh of relief as the Strief flexed its mighty muscles today.

Today’s race was a replacement from the cancelled downhill, which should have taken place last weekend in Wengen, meaning that the field will get a second chance tomorrow to take on the Streif. On Sunday, the speed weekend in Kitzbühel will conclude with a super-G.