VAL GARDENA, Italy (Dec. 15) - Do you believe in Steven? The Utah downhiller put a mark on his comeback returning to the site of his 2006 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win to do it again. Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) came out of the 39th start position to steal a victory on the foggy, snowy Saslong Classic after hours of delays. It was his second career win and fourth podium. Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) had a career best tenth. The men's tour now heads over the mountain to Alta Badia where Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) will be among favorites in the giant slalom.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) came out of the 39th start to take a stunning win on a foggy, snowy downhill course in Val Gardena.
- It was Nyman's second win on the challenging Saslong, having won there in 2006. Nyman's last podium came in 2007 at Beaver Creek.
- Nyman missed all of the 2012 season with a torn left Achilles.
- Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) had a career best tenth and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA), who was third in the season opening downhill, finished18th.
- The men's tour heads over the mountain to Alta Badia for a giant slalom Sunday where Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) will be among the favorites.
- Universal Sports will carry Nyman's win at 11:30 a.m. EST and 9:00 p.m.
QUOTES
Steven Nyman
Weather was a huge factor but hats off to Erik (Guay) and (Kjetil) Jansrud who ran in the snow and the fog. When I heard Rok (Perko) coming into the lead I said, 'right on, it's on, it's open!'
I came off the camels and flew SOOO far and said, 'my skis are running.' I had a little mistake exiting Ciaslot but kept it running. When I saw the green light I was fired up.
It's just a journey - it's always been journey. I've always believed I had the speed. I hope to prove it through the year. But I guess no points to 100 points isn't that consistent.
I'm just happy to feel good again. My body's feeling good. I had the flu, but battled that off. I had rib issues the first few races because I put it into the fence while training in Copper. The Achilles last year, the knees years before that and the back - this is the best gift I could have.
I told Travis on the podium, 'dude, you're next.' The kid has so much speed. Our team's good. We have to get that confidence back. Having Andi (Evers) here is great. he's an amazing coach. He has this quiet confidence about him. He teaches us what we need to do.
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