Fernie’s Emily Brydon finished 20th overall at the Tarvisio super combined with an aggregate time of two minutes 22.76 seconds.
Brydon, a speed specialist, clocked the 10th fastest downhill run of the morning but was pushed back to 19th overall following a mistake in a less aggressive slalom run.
“Realistically, in order for me to be on the podium in the super combined, I would have to train and race a lot more slalom,” admitted Brydon whose sole career World Cup podium in the combined was a third place finish in San Sicario, ITA achieved almost exactly four years ago.
“Today’s super combined was primarily an opportunity for me to make a few more valuable World Cup points and to race the downhill course yet another time prior to the ultimate downhill event tomorrow,” added the 28-year-old ski team veteran from Fernie, BC.
“I had some good sections in the downhill but definitively skied better in the training runs,” added Brydon, who finished fifth and fourth in the training events held earlier this week.
Germany’s Maria Riesch, who was off the pace by 0.76 seconds behind friend Lindsey Vonn (USA) after the downhill, took the gold following the completion of a flawless slalom run.
Still fresh off her 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships slalom win, Riesch claimed her first career super combined win and her fifth World Cup victory of the season with a cumulative time of 2:18.57, edging Vonn by 0.49 seconds.
The surprise of the day came from Austria’s Kattrin Zettel who managed to overcome a 23rd place finish in the downhill to claim bronze after offering the second fastest slalom run of the day. The versatile, technical and speed skier completed both courses with a two-run time of 2:20.60.
Canada’s Kelly VanderBeek (Chicopee, ON), who focuses primarily on World Cup downhill and super G competitions and has no points in the super combined, was the 61st racer down the Pista Di Prampera. Despite being the last skier out of the start hut for the downhill segment of the super combined, VanderBeek still managed to clock the 25th best time of the morning but chose not to take part in the slalom run.
Similarly to Brydon, VanderBeek has taken advantage of the super combined to focus on the downhill run. Because super combined event are usually held on the Friday, this has allowed the Ontario native to get an extra look at the track in anticipation of Saturday’s ultimate downhill race.
The only other Canadian to complete the downhill course was Emilie Desforges (Montreal, QC) who came in 48th. Desforges moved up one spot after the slalom to end the day in 47th place with a cumulative time of 2:26.72.
Larisa Yurkiw (Owen Sound, ON) did not finish her downhill run.
The women’s circuit has not competed on Tarvisio’s Pista Di Prampera since 2007. That year, Canada’s Brydon took bronze in the first ever women’s World Cup downhill event held at that race site.
“Tomorrow, I just need to stick to my plan and go for it,” said Brydon who achieved her last podium on the World Cup circuit in February 2008 in the St-Moritz, SUI super G. “The conditions in Tarvisio are some of the best we’ve had all season, I’ve had very good sensations in training lately, and I’m finally back in full health so I think tomorrow could be a good day if I pull it all together,” she concluded.
Today’s race marked the ladies’ third super combined competition of the season. The next and last women’s World Cup super combined race event of the season will be held at the World Cup Finals in Åre, SWE in March.
The women will race in the highly anticipated downhill race on Saturday, followed by a super-G on Sunday.
Radio-Canada.ca will broadcast Saturday’s downhill and Sunday’s super G live at 5:25 a.m. CBC will also be broadcasting the Women’s super G at 3 p.m. (EST). Live coverage of Sunday’s race will also be available on www.cbcsports.ca and cable channel bold at 5:30 a.m. (EST).
In other ladies CAST results, development skier Brittany Phelan (Mont Tremblant, QC) won two FIS slalom races this week in Laturns, AUT. In the opening race on Wednesday, Phelan finished with a two-run combined time of 1:51.88, almost two seconds faster than her closest competitor
