Cuche finishes third in Lake Louise Super G

Didier Cuche gets tight to the gate in Lake Louise Keystone

Switzerland's Didier Cuche took third place in the opening men's Super-Giant slalom ski race in Lake Louise in Canada on Sunday.

Cuche came in behind defending overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, his second victory of the Alpine World Cup season, and Austria’s Benjamin Raich.

Switzerland’s Ambrosi Hoffmann was sixth and his countryman Didier Defago was ninth.

Cuche’s third place wipes out the bad memories of Saturday’s downhill when the skier from Neuchâtel came 17th.

“I really enjoyed it today – unlike Saturday; the sun allowed me to see where I was skiing. I was therefore able to attack at my leisure,” said Cuche. “To come in third behind Aksel and Benni is nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary! I trained with Svindal last week and I saw how good he was.”

“It’s not that I don’t like this race course but I had never really had much success here; one podium position – a third in the Super G in 2003 – in six attempts.”

Svindal’s victory was the Norwegian’s seventh in just under a year and added to his giant slalom victory in Solden, Austria, on October 28.

“I would say I’m skiing good,” said Svindal, who won the Super G at Lake Louise two years ago. “My skiing is stable and consistent.

“I like the snow here. It’s more like Scandinavian snow. It’s dry and you can do good turns on it. I like to race in Canada. It’s a good place.”

The win gave Svindal, who will turn 25 the day after Christmas, the overall lead with 234 points, 68 more than Raich and 94 ahead of Kalle Palander of Finland, who doesn’t compete in the speed events and fell to third.

It was also a good day for the local racers, with Canada’s Erik Guay finishing fifth joined in the top ten by compatriots John Kucera in seventh and Jan Hudec in eighth.

The World Cup calendar now turns to the next race in Beaver Creek, United States: super-combi (Thursday), downhill (Friday), super-G (Saturday) and giant slalom (Sunday).

swissinfo with agencies

Lake Louise, Canada – Super-G

1. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 1 minute 29.19 seconds.
2. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 1:29.63.
3. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 1:29.79.
4. Andrej Jerman, Slovenia, 1:29.83.
5. Erik Guay, Canada, 1:29.85.
6. Ambrosi Hoffmann, Switzerland, 1:29.90.
7. John Kucera, Canada, 1:29.96.
8. Jan Hudec, Canada, 1:30.04.
9. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 1:30.16.
10. Christoph Gruber, Austria, 1:30.19.