2007 Alpine Skiing World Cup
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The 41st World Cup season was scheduled to begin on October 28, 2006, but cancellation of the opening races in Sölden delayed the season's start by two weeks. A very poor snowpack in the Alps, along with stormy weather in January, caused numerous races to be moved and rescheduled throughout the winter. The schedule included a mid-season break during the first 3 weeks of February for the World Championships in Åre, Sweden. The season concluded on March 18, 2007, at the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Summary

The top two finishers from last season, Benjamin Raich of Austria and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, at the top of the standings for most of the season. With consistent podium performances in the speed races, which won him the Cup title in downhill, Didier Cuche of Switzerland finished a solid third overall. The 2005 overall champion and last year's third-place finisher, American Bode Miller, won four speed events but struggled in the technical events, keeping him from the top spots in the overall standings throughout the season. Before the final four individual races of the season, these four athletes still had a mathematical chance to win the overall World Cup title. The strongest newcomer was Jens Byggmark of Sweden, who won the first two races of his career on consecutive days in late January to vault temporarily into the top ranks in the slalom standings. Also in slalom, Mario Matt of Austria came back to win three races in 2007, regaining his top form from the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Matt ultimately lost the slalom title to Raich by just 5 points.

The early season on the women's side was led by Marlies Schild of Austria, who won six slaloms and a super combined, clinching both of these Cups early. But the biggest story of the season's first half was the resurgence of Austria's Renate Götschl, who was coming off a difficult 2006 season which saw her drop to 19th in the overall standings, her worst finish since 1994. She rebounded to dominate the speed events, winning four races in Super G and three in downhill, securing the trophies in both of these events. American Julia Mancuso, 2006 Olympic gold medalist, had a very strong season, scoring the first four World Cup wins of her career. Nicole Hosp of Austria had a solid season with several podium positions, but few victories. Lindsey Kildow of the U.S. celebrated three victories before she had to drop out after the World Championships due to a knee injury. Entering the World Cup Finals, four women — Hosp, Götschl, Mancuso, and Schild — were within a 102-point range, and each of them had a realistic chance of winning the overall World Cup title.

At the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, both the men's and women's overall titles came down to the technical events.

On the men's side, the race came down to Raich and Svindal. Going into the technical events, Raich looked unbeatable but a DNF for him in GS meant that Svindal would have an opportunity to clinch the title on the final day in slalom, his weakest event. Svindal needed only to finish in the top fifteen and score points in order to win the title, and he achieved it in hair-raising fashion — by finishing 15th.

Marlies Schild seemed a sure bet for the women's overall title after uncharacteristically strong performances in the speed events. But she skied disastrously in the slalom, the event that she had dominated all season long, and failed to score any points. That meant she needed both a strong performance in the GS and a weak one from her lone remaining rival, Nicole Hosp. But Hosp won the race while Schild managed just sixth place, ensuring the Cup title (and the GS globe) for Hosp.

Calendar

Key

Men

Date	Place	Disc.	Winner	Second	Third
October 29, 2006	Sölden, Austria	GS	cancelled	cancelled	cancelled
November 12, 2006	Levi, Finland	SL	Benjamin Raich	Markus Larsson	Giorgio Rocca
November 25, 2006	Lake Louise, Canada	DH	Marco Büchel	Manuel Osborne-Paradis	Peter Fill
November 26, 2006	Lake Louise, Canada	SG	John Kucera	Mario Scheiber	Patrik Järbyn
November 30, 2006	Beaver Creek, United States	SC	Aksel Lund Svindal	Marc Berthod	Rainer Schönfelder
December 1, 2006	Beaver Creek, United States	DH	Bode Miller	Didier Cuche	Steven Nyman
December 2, 2006	Beaver Creek, United States	GS	Massimiliano Blardone	Aksel Lund Svindal	Ted Ligety
December 3, 2006	Beaver Creek, United States	SL	André Myhrer	Michael Janyk	Felix Neureuther
December 10, 2006	Val d'Isère, France Reiteralm, Austria	SC	Ivica Kostelić	Romed Baumann	Pierrick Bourgeat
December 15, 2006	Val Gardena, Italy	SG	Bode Miller	Christoph Gruber	John Kucera
December 16, 2006	Val Gardena, Italy	DH	Steven Nyman	Didier Cuche	Fritz Strobl
December 17, 2006	Alta Badia, Italy	GS	Kalle Palander	Bode Miller	Didier Defago
December 18, 2006	Alta Badia, Italy	SL	Markus Larsson	Ted Ligety	Ivica Kostelić
December 20, 2006	Hinterstoder, Austria	SG	Bode Miller	Peter Fill	Hermann Maier
December 21, 2006	Hinterstoder, Austria	GS	Aksel Lund Svindal	François Bourque	Kalle Palander
December 9, 2006 December 28, 2006	Val d'Isère, France Bormio, Italy	DH	Michael Walchhofer	Didier Cuche	Mario Scheiber
December 29, 2006	Bormio, Italy	DH	Michael Walchhofer	Peter Fill	Mario Scheiber
January 6, 2007	Adelboden, Switzerland	GS	Benjamin Raich	Massimiliano Blardone	Aksel Lund Svindal
January 7, 2007	Adelboden, Switzerland	SL	Marc Berthod	Benjamin Raich	Mario Matt
January 13, 2007	Wengen, Switzerland	DH	Bode Miller	Didier Cuche	Peter Fill
January 12, 2007 January 14, 2007	Wengen, Switzerland	SC	Mario Matt	Marc Berthod	Silvan Zurbriggen
January 20, 2007	Chamonix, France Val d'Isère, France	DH	Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin	Erik Guay	Manuel Osborne-Paradis
January 26, 2007	Kitzbühel, Austria	SG	cancelled	cancelled	cancelled
January 14, 2007 January 27, 2007	Wengen, Switzerland Kitzbühel, Austria	SL	Jens Byggmark	Mario Matt	Alois Vogl
January 28, 2007	Kitzbühel, Austria	SL	Jens Byggmark	Mario Matt	Manfred Moelgg
January 29, 2007	Kitzbühel, Austria	K	cancelled	cancelled	cancelled
January 30, 2007	Schladming, Austria	SL	Benjamin Raich	Jens Byggmark	Mario Matt
January 27, 2007 February 23, 2007	Kitzbühel, Austria Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	DH	Andrej Jerman	Hans Grugger	Erik Guay
February 24, 2007	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	DH	Erik Guay	Andrej Jerman	Didier Cuche
February 25, 2007	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	SL	Mario Matt	Felix Neureuther	Benjamin Raich
March 3, 2007	Kranjska Gora, Slovenia	GS	Benjamin Raich	François Bourque	Massimiliano Blardone
March 4, 2007	Kranjska Gora, Slovenia	SL	Mario Matt	Benjamin Raich	Manfred Moelgg
January 21, 2007 March 9, 2007	Chamonix, France Val d'Isère, France Kvitfjell, Norway	SC	Benjamin Raich	Silvan Zurbriggen	Aksel Lund Svindal
March 9, 2007 March 10, 2007	Kvitfjell, Norway	DH	Didier Cuche	Erik Guay	Marco Büchel
March 10, 2007 March 11, 2007	Kvitfjell, Norway	SG	Hans Grugger	Mario Scheiber	Didier Cuche
March 14, 2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	DH	Aksel Lund Svindal	Daniel Albrecht	Christoph Gruber
March 15, 2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	SG	Aksel Lund Svindal	Benjamin Raich	Erik Guay
March 17, 2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	GS	Aksel Lund Svindal	Massimiliano Blardone	Bode Miller
March 18, 2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	SL	Benjamin Raich	Mario Matt	Manfred Moelgg

Ladies

Date	Place	Disc.	Winner	Second	Third
October 28, 2006	Sölden, Austria	GS	cancelled	cancelled	cancelled
November 11, 2006	Levi, Finland	SL	Marlies Schild	Nicole Hosp	Kathrin Zettel
November 25, 2006	Aspen, United States	GS	Kathrin Zettel	Tanja Poutiainen	Michaela Kirchgasser
November 26, 2006	Aspen, United States	SL	Marlies Schild	Nicole Hosp	Therese Borssén
December 1, 2006	Lake Louise, Canada	DH	Maria Riesch	Lindsey Kildow	Nadia Fanchini
December 2, 2006	Lake Louise, Canada	DH	Lindsey Kildow	Renate Götschl	Anja Pärson
December 3, 2006	Lake Louise, Canada	SG	Renate Götschl	Lindsey Kildow	Kelly VanderBeek
December 10, 2006 December 15, 2006	St. Moritz, Switzerland Reiteralm, Austria	SC	Marlies Schild	Michaela Kirchgasser	Kathrin Zettel
December 17, 2006 December 16, 2006	Val d'Isère, France Reiteralm, Austria	SG	Renate Götschl	Nicole Hosp	Martina Schild
December 16, 2006 December 19, 2006	Val d'Isère, France	DH	Julia Mancuso	Renate Götschl	Lindsey Kildow
December 9, 2006 December 20, 2006	St. Moritz, Switzerland Val d'Isère, France	DH	Lindsey Kildow	Julia Mancuso	Anja Pärson
December 20, 2006 December 21, 2006	Megève, France Val d'Isère, France	SL	Marlies Schild	Annemarie Gerg	Therese Borssén
December 28, 2006	Semmering, Austria	GS