Guay places 10th in downhill training in France
Cuche sets fastest time at 2 minutes 5.05 seconds in preparation for World Cup event
Swiss veteran Didier Cuche showed that age does not matter by setting the fastest time in Thursday's training run for a men's World Cup downhill in Chamonix, France.
The Swiss skier covered the 3,343-metre La Verte des Houches course in two minutes 5.05 seconds. Romed Baumann of Austria was second in 2:05.31 and Andrej Sporn of Slovenia was third, 0.30 seconds off the pace.
World champion Eric Guay of Mont Tremblant, Que., finished 10th and Olympic silver medallist Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was 13th. American skier Bode Miller, who won in Beaver Creek, Colo., in December, was in 20th place, more than two seconds behind Cuche.
Overall World Cup leader Ivica Kostelic was 35th and Olympic champion Didier Defago was 52nd.
Cuche announced last month he would retire at the end of this season despite being in contention for a record-equalling fifth World Cup downhill title.
At 37, Cuche is the oldest skier to win a men's World Cup event. He has already won three downhill races this season and leads compatriot Beat Feuz by 69 points in the downhill standings. Feuz was 14th in training.
The training was delayed by about an hour because fog shrouded the course. Heavy snowfall had led to the cancellation of Wednesday's training.
The downhill is slated for Friday and Saturday, before the super combined on Sunday.