Alpine SkiingAlpine Skiing - Val d 'Isere
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The second day of racing in Val d'Isere provides the first downhill season on the historic track Oreiller-Killy.
Friday 2 December 2016 6 minutes reading time
Val d'Isere, the town of about 1,600 inhabitants, is one of the historical sites of the Alpine Ski World Cup Men. Located in Haute Savoie in fact hosted its first race, one Giant Slalom, in 1968. Since then 90 total trials of the World Cup as well as the World Cup in 2009 and Downhill, Super G, Giant and Combined of the Albertville Olympic Games in 1992 (the slalom is raced in Les Menuires).
Saturday will be played on the classic Descent Oreiller-Killy, the track which hosted all the evidence of the World Cup of this specialty, leaving the much more difficult Face de Bellevarde the task of assigning medals at the 1992 Games and the World Cup in 2009.
The man who has the greatest number of successes in the Descent of Val d'Isere is Franz Klammer. One of the greatest performers ever in this discipline has in fact imposed on 8 December 1974 on 11 December 1977 and 6 December 1981 for a total of 3 wins. The only two men able to win more than one first place are Pirmin Zurbriggen, who triumphed in December 1986 and January 1988, and Stephan Eberharter, he imposed for two consecutive editions in December of 2001 and 2002.
They are both on the list reserved for podiums leader. Klammer is one of them, as for the three successes combines third place on 10 December 1973 in the race won by Herbert Plank. It is the blue the other man to lead this particular ranking: in addition to this success it also boasts three consecutive second places dated 1975, 1977 and 1978 for a total of 4 top three.
Not only Plank, the Oreiller-Killy is a track that has given satisfaction to the various blue colors in Descent. Michael Mair fact won three consecutive podium finishes, the victory of 1985 and the two third places in 1986 and 1987. He also made memorable editions of December 12, 1998, with Luca Cattaneo and Erik Seletto second and third respectively behind Lasse Kjus, and above all of 16 December 2000, when Alessandro Fattori was imposed ahead of Kristian Ghedina and Roland Fischnaller for what today is the last podium entirely flag of a race of the Alpine Ski World Cup Men.
Finally it should be mentioned the second place of Kurt Sulzenbacher in the trial of 2001 and which, unfortunately, will be remembered not for the result but for the terrible accident of Silvano Beltrametti. The Swiss talent, fresh from third place the previous day in SuperG and author until then the best intermediate, fell more or less halfway through the race, a ski cut net safety nets by end his carom on a rock. As we all know from that day Beltrametti lost the use of his legs, seeing break a career started at the highest level as well as the life of any 22-year-old boy.
The Downhill in Val d'Isere will be staged Saturday, December 3. The first to go will be released by the pound at 11.
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