World Cup predictions anyone ?

Women:  Vonn, Hoefl-Riesch and Maze.  Maze takes the GS title,  Vonn the DH and Hoefl-Riesch the SL and SC.  SG?  Maybe Maze surprises if she is stronger this year but Vonn likely takes it.  HEAD, Atomic and Stockli (mostly Maze) podium big time for the women.

Men:  Who knows?  The old guys still look good in the speed events.  Ligety, Janka and Blardone have one more good year in the GS before the skis change.  SL is a crapshoot.  The overall is a crapshoot.  HEAD and Atomic rule the podium because they keep buying good skiers.

I think Janka should come back strong. I don't imagine Cuche has a whole lot left in his tank at this point. Also not sure what kind of shape Svindal is in, but he's the other big threat for the overall.

Personally I don't consider Svindal as contender for overall. He will do good, but in my opinion not good enough for winning overall. Kostelic is an option, but I wouldn't really bet on him repeating last year. So my bet would be Janka. And for top 3 most likely Janka, Kostelic and, if he will once for a change manage to get through the year without problems (mentally not physically) Zurbriggen.

With women, I would bet on Riesch. She finally got over being second, and this works on two things... Her skiing will be easier, since mental brake is gone, and Lindsey's skiing will be harder, since now she knows she's not only one out there. Then there's Maze, and no matter how much I would like her to win (afterall she's almost my neighbor), I don't think she has much chances for overall victory. She has been training good, and based on info I have, she's fast, but I still somehow don't think it will go. And then there's Goergl, but I doubt she will repeat last season. So Riesch takes overall, with Vonn and Maze being in top 3.

So let's wait for half year, and see how wrong I was :)

Interesting take, I always enjoy hearing your informed view on the Cup. Janka seems like the man, just wonder what's up with his health. Also, any issues in that he's on Atomic rather than Head?

Janka seems like overall winner tome too.... He has the skills in 3 out of 4. Last year he won  GS/forgot where/, just days after his heart surgery..After him Cuche and Costelic..

SL is like totally separate..

Women, I would like Vonn to win, but it will be Riesch most likely.....

We'll see.....

Really hard to imagine Kostelic having another run like last year's in him. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by prickly 
Also, any issues in that he's on Atomic rather than Head?

I'm pretty sure that one of bigger plus points for Janka ;) Atomic has new boots this year, and most of guys really like them. Atomic skis were best on speed events for long time, and Head's shopping didn't change that (just ask Svindal how much he likes his speed skis ;)). Sure medal count is smaller like it was, but that doesn't mean Head skis are best you can get. So Janka being on Atomic is in my opinion just big advantage not disadvantage.

Primoz you rock.... Always liked your opinion, which makes sense most of the time... Even if we ignore your experience, which we wont..... 

I am a long shot guy :) ...  For the women I am going with Mancuso, Maze, & Gut, especially if they can get going in SL.

For the men, I will have to think about it & get back to you. If Bode is in shape & has his set-up right, I would never count him out.

JF

It's always same with boots. Some people like it, some don't. Maybe it's just coincidence and almost everyone I was talking about liked this new boot, but I believe if I would be talking with someone else, I might got different info. We will see later on, how many will really ski with them, but unless you are there talking with these guys, it will be pretty much impossible to tell who is on new boot and who isn't. Afterall if you would just look at shoes, you would get impression everyone on Fischer was on new Vacum boots last season, even though in reality, there were less then 5 guys really skiing with them. ;)

As far as skis are concerned, in today's world medal count doesn't provide any data how good skis are. Medal count provides only info, how much particular company is ready to spend on top athletes to ski their material. I guess we can all agree, that for example Lindsey would be just as good on any skis. And she proved this already... one year winning on Rossi, next year on Head. Most, if not all, top racers went to Head because of something else then ski quality. And quite few of them, have their own opinion about material quality. Sure they are paid good enough not to talk about this in media, but when you are talking with these guys and with their servicemen privately, you hear a bit more then you can read in newspapers or see on tv. So I was never judging ski quality based on medal count.

But this what I wrote, that staying with Atomic, is most likely biggest plus point for Janka is about something else. It's not about Atomic having superior skis. Head has problems delivery top of the line, personalized  stuff to such huge pool of skiers. Atomic (or more or less any other company) has much smaller pool of top athletes, which means their top skiers can get more attention, and therefore material matching their wishes exactly. With Head this is pretty hard to achieve.

Any thoughts on how the recent string of injuries on the German Women's team, will affect Maria Reich?  Her sister is out for the season and she had a near miss herself.  She strikes me as a person who sometimes lets mind games weaken her resolve. I like her despite her rivalry with Lindsey and would love to see her come out strong this season. (I thought the break in their friendship was sad.) The injuries have been in speed training which is Lindsey's strength, though Maria is strong at DH herself.

Also I really like Mancuso and wonder if there is any room at the top for her and wonder also if Lara Gut will start to move forward. Where will Lara fit this season?