Does Beat Feuz win in the downhill?

The Emmental Beat Feuz had won the most important Swiss ski race, for the third time already, the superlatives overturned, “cool sock” was still the most subtle compliment. Everyone had talked about the big favorite Feuz, and Feuz pulled it off. “How do you do that?” And Feuz said: “It wasn’t the first time that I was the favorite.”

No, it has happened from time to time. In the last 18 World Cup descents, Feuz has been on the podium 16 times, in the remaining two races he finished sixth. It is a remarkable consistency, “unbelievable”, the Swiss Ski President Urs Lehmann used the word several times. “I have never seen anything like this,” said Lehmann, “the basic trust that he developed and lives.” He exudes this certain serenity even during the week. He knows what he has ahead of many others, the routine in this profession and especially when dealing with this slope, the longest downhill run in the world. Whoever drives this race for the first time will be “mentally at an end after the tour,” said Feuz on Tuesday evening. “He should actually be back in bed straight away.” Meanwhile, others praised the way Feuz inspected the route – how quickly he understood what was different from previous years and how to react to it.

This year the race was not in its original length, it had snowed overnight, and when snow groomers came up in the upper part to cope with the snow mass, the slope collapsed because the ceiling was not thick enough. The start took place below, Feuz knew that errors would be much more expensive on a shorter route. For the Brüggli-S, he had three options in his head – until he opted for a chic ski instructor’s swing before the first corner in order to get through the key section at the right pace. Everything done correctly, again. Feuz was “so averaged,” said Lehmann. “You can feel this calmness with every breath.”

Feuz had made the riskiest decision before the race. He ran the race without a rail on his left hand; he had last supported this because of the fracture of the fifth metacarpal just before Christmas. This procedure was “certainly not recommended”, but it was also due to experience. With this start in the quasi-area in front of the Hundschopf the rail would have hindered him too much to pick up speed as quickly as possible with stick thrusts. He later said: “I knew that starting with a rail – I would have a big problem.”

Feuz has learned a lot to assess, all the descents of this world, himself. After the first Lauberhorn victory and second place in the overall World Cup 2012, his career was coming to an end, an infection on the knee made several operations necessary, and Feuz did not race in winter 2012/13. At the time, it seemed illusory that one day attempts would be made to classify Feuz as a historical figure in ski racing. He threatened to write the next chapter of a failed Swiss talent. Feuz got another real chance from fate, he used it, just him, the once sloppy genius. He never set himself goals that were too big, and above all he assured early that his knee would never be resilient to an attack on the overall World Cup.

He wanted to be the man for selected races. He won World Cup gold in 2017, after which he said: “I don’t have to prove anything anymore.” Since then he has never tired of providing evidence, evidence of his coolness, his calmness, how much he has found a middle. He was shocked when the downhill trainer Andreas Evers confronted him in 2017 with the requirement to win the Downhill World Cup. Since then, no one else has secured the small crystal ball for the best downhill rider of the season, 2018: Feuz, 2019: Feuz.

He did better than he thought possible. 2020 again leads Feuz, 16 points ahead of Dominik Paris, who also finished second in Wengen. Since the introduction of the World Cup, Feuz has been the second driver after Franz Klammer to win three times in the Lauberhorn downhill, and he could be the fourth Swiss to win the Downhill World Cup three times after Didier Cuche (four times), Peter Müller and Franz Heinzer.

Three times the Lauberhorn winner – someone from Feuz wanted to know whether he realized which row he was in now. «No, it is not so important now, because I am still active. You can talk about that when I’m done with your career. ”There were certainly people for whom the world should have stood still this Saturday afternoon. But not for Feuz. He still has plans. Next week there will be a departure from Kitzbühel, which he has never won. And he will be one of the favorites again, not for the first time.

Wengen. Men’s World Cup Downhill: 1. Feuz (SUI) 1: 42.53. 2. Paris (ITA) 0.29 back. 3. Dressen (GER) 0.31. 4. Mayer (AUT) 0.38. 5. Caviezel (SUI) 0.42. 6. Kilde (NOR) 0.48. 7. Bennett (USA) 0.87. 8. Hintermann (SUI) and Kriechmayr (AUT), 0.93 each. 10. Weber (SUI) 1.00. 11. Jansrud (NOR) 1.08. 12. Danklmaier (AUT) 1.10. 13. Schmid (GER) 1.16. 14. Cochran-Siegle (USA) 1.30. 15.Casse (ITA), Allègre (FRA), Janka (SUI) and Striedinger (AUT), each 1.54. Furthermore the other Swiss: 26. Rösti 1.84. 28. Roulin 2.03. 35. Rogentin 2.17. – 58 drivers started and classified.