World Cup notes: Inside Levi

Finnish fans who flocked to Levi, a resort in Northern Finland’s Lapland situated more than 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle, had to be pleased with the performance of Tanja Poutiainen this past weekend. The Finnish veteran finished third in Saturday’s slalom, 1.16 seconds behind victor Maria Riesch and Lindsey Vonn.

“I feel almost like a winner because this is my first time on the podium at Levi after five years,” said Poutiainen about her home race. “It was great to be third in front of my own people.”

Poutiainen, who hails from Rovaniemi, which is about a two-hour drive from Levi, won the first-ever World Cup alpine race held in Finland in 2004. It was also her first tour victory. The 29-year-old technical specialist, who nabbed the opening giant slalom in Soelden a few weekends ago, sits atop the overall World Cup standings with 160 points after two races.

Riesch Sisters Lead Young Germans - Maria Riesch’s slalom success -- she won the 2009 World Cup title -- might be getting contagious. Her younger sister Susanne, 21, posted her best-ever World Cup result Saturday in Levi, finishing fourth. Two other young German racers skied their way into the top 10. Katharina Duerr, 20, was seventh, her best-ever result and Fanny Chmelar, 24, was ninth.

“It’s great for all of us. A start like this is very important for the team,” said Susanne Riesch. “Indeed we have a very young team. We are pushing each other on the slope and we have a lot of fun together.”

By comparison, the traditionally tough to beat Austrian ladies only placed two among the top ten -- Michaela Kirchgasser was fifth and Marlies Schild, who missed all of last season due to injury, was sixth.

Svindal supports Norwegian sisters from South Beach - Maria and Susanne Riesch weren’t the only sisters having fun in Levi this past weekend. Norwegians Mona and Nina Loeseth also had fast skis, both of whom made their way into the top 20. Mona, the Norwegian national slalom champ at only 18, had a career best 14th. Her elder sister, Nina, 20, finished 20th. And the Loeseths also have a third sibling, Lene, 22, who did not qualify for the second run.

Their teammate and men’s defending overall World Cup champion, Aksel Lund Svindal, who is recovering from a pre-season leg injury and is relaxing in Miami, Florida, tweeted on Twitter, “Good Job Mona!,” complimenting the young Norwegians impressive performance.

Svindal, who hopes to begin his season in Lake Louise, Canada on November 28, has also recently tweeted about his Sunshine State sojourn, “South Beach living up to its expectations,” and “Due to tropical storm Ida they say rain in Miami. For a Norwegian it’s looking like a good day.”

Advantage Austria - Considering that last season was the first since 2001-02’ that an Austrian man failed to finish in the top three of the season-ending slalom standings, Reinfried Herbst’s victory on Sunday had to be somewhat relieving for the ski crazed alpine nation. 

“My first run was already good, I didn’t make any mistakes,” said Herbst who was fourth after the first run but moved passed France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange, Julien Lizeroux and Sweden’s Andre Myhrer in the second. “On the second I focused especially on the flat part of the course and managed it well.”

Herbst, who was fourth in last year’s slalom standings picked up his sixth career slalom win.  The 31-year-old was one of three members of the Austrian “Power Team” to crack the top 10. Teammate Benjamin Raich, second in last season’s overall standings ended tied for sixth and 2008 World Slalom Champion Manfred Pranger was ninth.

Je m’appelle Grizzly Adams - Double world championship silver medalist, Julien Lizeroux of France has been attacking gates this season sporting straggly long hair and an overgrown beard.

“I’ll admit, I’m always changing my looks - after the first training this season I started growing my beard,” said the 30-year-old Frenchman prior to the Levi race. “I had tendonitis in my elbow so I couldn’t shave. My bet with some of the other guys was that I would only shave when I win my first race this season, so it could be soon or I might have to wait a bit.”

Lizeroux’s beard was in jeopardy after his first run. The colorful Frenchman stood in second place just 0.09 seconds behind Sweden’s Andre Myhrer. However, Lizeroux lost his rhythm on the steeps in the second run and made a spectacular recovery but ended his day in fifth place.

For now, the beard remains.

Americans update beyond Bode and Lindsey – For the women, Idaho’s Hailey Duke was 21st and Minnesota’s Kaylin Richardson 23rd despite starting all the way back with bib 70. World Cup mom Sarah Schleper straddled a gate during the first run resulting in a DQ.

2006 Olympic combined champion, Ted Ligety, seventh after the first run, was carrying excellent speed from the upper flats onto the steep midsection of the “Levi Black” course when he lost his momentum.

“Half of the top 30 had trouble at the top of the steeps in the second run and Ted was one of those guys,” said U.S. Ski Team men’s technical coach Rudi Soulard. “They were coming over the pitch with speed and then getting kicked out and ending up below the next gate. From there it was tough for them to regain their rhythm.”

Ligety wound up 18th and currently lies fifth in the overall standings after two races.

Jimmy Cochran was 26th after the first run and moved up to finish 19th after the second run.

The Audi FIS World Cup continues in two weekends as the men head to Lake Louise, Canada and the ladies to Aspen, Colorado.

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