WOLKENSTEIN in Val Gardena, Italy (AP)-the big jumps and varied terrain on the Saslong Circuit remind American racers of their homeland. Then there’s Babs, the owner of the hotel where the U.S. ski team has resided for decades in Val Gardena, who treats athletes like their own children.
It has been the perfect recipe over the years and Bryce Bennett gave the team another victory on Saturday at the Dolomites Resort in the first classic downhill of the world Cup season.
The 6-foot-7 Californian joined teammate Steven Nyman (three downhill wins) and Bode Miller (one Super-G win) as the American winner on Saslong.
“It’s a magical place for us and I’m really excited for Bryce to keep the Tradition going,” Nyman said.
For his first career victory, Bennett finished 0.14 seconds behind Otmar Striedinger of Austria and 0.32 seconds behind Niels Hintermann of Switzerland in perfect conditions.
“The feeling was fast,” Bennett said. “I stole jumps.”
Bennett has never done better than fourth (twice in Val Gardena and once in Bormio) and can now head to the Beijing Olympics with renewed confidence.
“It happened – finally. It’s been a long time,” Bennett said. “It was a little bit out of left field. … There was no expectation about it.”
The entire U.S. team has been beefing it up recently, with Travis Ganong taking the podium in Beaver Creek, Colo.,and Ryan Cochran-Siegle picked up speed after breaking his neck last season—and the 39-year-old Nyman making another comeback from injury.
“We have a good team running. We’ll get there. Only sometimes do we doubt ourselves,” Bennett said. “This Sport is difficult. These are usually disappointments, so we get over them and we keep breaking them, and then we have a day like this.”
Nyman told how he first learned the secrets of Saslong from Daron Rahlves and Miller.
“He’s bleeding year after year,” Nyman said. “We build on each other. The cool thing is the guys keep coming back and learning from the older guys and keep improving it.”
For the pre-race meal on Friday night, Babs made Spätzle, a local noodle specialty, followed by chicken, potatoes and cauliflower. For dessert there were lava cakes and Tiramisu.
“Good ole Babs food,” Nyman said.
It was a special moment for Bennett, who recently got engaged and intends to get married next summer.
As he sat in the chef’s chair, Bennett called his parents home to Lake Tahoe, California, and soon married, who was in Missouri.
His fiancee was asleep.
“She missed it. I woke them up,” Bennett said. “She said, ‘Are you kidding?’I’m like,’ watch the Timing live. She was speechless, like me.”
It was also a day of banishment for American women when Breezy Johnson finished second behind Olympic champion Sofia Goggia in a downhill in the Val d’Isere.
While he was only the 10th starter — with almost all the pre-race Favorites – Bennett produced such a solid run that he immediately seemed to know it was special. He celebrated wildly in the target area, repeatedly pumped his fists and sticks and shouted.
“Bryce, you’re a ski star,” the race spokesman shouted to the masked crowd.
Bennett and Nyman share the same ski technician, Leo Mussi – a native of the Dolomites. Mussi also worked for Italian rider Kristian Ghedina, who shares the four-corner record at Val Gardena with Austrian Franz Klammer.
“I knew the skis would be fast,” Bennett said. “If I ski badly now, I feel so bad for Leo because he works so hard. He’s my second Dad. Steve, Leo, me, we have a good relationship.”
Bennett had barely sat down when the next starter, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde – the Norwegian who had won three in a row at Val Gardena- was faster than the American at each of the first four checkpoints.
Kilde was almost a second ahead of Bennett entering the ciaslat section filled with off-roaders, but he had so much speed that he lost control and pulled away from the line. Kilde narrowly avoided a fall, but could not recover in time to clear the next gate.
Dominik Paris of Italy was fourth and Beat Feuz of Switzerland was fifth. Paris and Feuz were also faster than Bennett through most of the course, but could not compete with the Tahoe City, California, skiers through the Ciaslat.
As a child, Bennett was a BMX racer and his bike background and long legs help him take the field in the Ciaslat, filled with small rollers and bumps.
“All my life it was about who could hit the biggest cliff and jump the silly things. So that part is natural for me – the big jumps and the air,” Bennett said.
“But where I feel is BMX racing. … It’s just the feeling of being able to work and use the field. It brings me speed where people don’t think you can get speed.”