Surprise, Surprise
Hannes Reichelt and Philipp Schoerghofer are unexpected winners
at Hinterstoder, Austria BY HANK MCKEE PHOTOS BY GEPA
The last time the World Cup hurtled down the Hannes Trinkl slope at Hinterstoder was 2006; the last time that Hannes Reichelt won a World Cup race was 2008.
“No one,” said Hannes Reichelt, “was
expecting me.”
No one was expecting him in 1992, ei-
ther, when he was second in the super G
at Groeden, also the first race he scored
in. At Hinterstoder on Feb. 5, he got his
first win since 2008.
Reichelt skied well enough to bring
praise from Bode Miller, acing the turns
above the Hinterstoder flats for the win
over the unflappable Benjamin Raich and
Miller, who got third, his best result since,
well, just before Reichelt’s last win back
in 2008.
“The part that mattered most,” said Mill-
er, “was where Reichelt beat everyone so
badly coming onto the flats. It shouldn’t
have been so hard. ... but I just fell inside,
lost my outside ski and touched my hand
and hip to the ground.”
Standard Bode, which we didn’t see that
much of in the early season. Here, he was
gunning, taking risks, making recoveries.
It looked like he was enjoying himself.
