Another retiring skier that I’m only passingly familiar with, Switzerland’s Silvana Bucher. Like Vina the other day, she hasn’t raced a ton at the WC level in distance events:
Or sprints:
But you can see that one sprint race that stands out among the rest. Indeed, that 6th place finish was her best WC result, and her only top 10. She had a total of 15 races where she landed in the top 30, across both disciplines. She was most definitely a freestyle specialist, having competed in only 3 WC classic events and another 2 mixed technique events (i.e. pursuits). All the rest were skating.
Given her limited exposure to the WC scene, lets look at all of her results using FIS points:
Steadily between 75-125 FIS points for several seasons in distance races, possibly even sliding backwards a little, and then there was a rather major jump in 2007. Then there’s the near total absence in 2009, which I’d have to guess is an injury (or sometimes with women it’s a baby).
Her World Junior results were ok, but not great: 19th, 33rd, 46th, 51st. Interestingly, though, she scored a 1st and 5th at U23s in 2007.
Another retiring skier that I’m only passingly familiar with, Switzerland’s Silvana Bucher. Like Vina the other day, she hasn’t raced a ton at the WC level in distance events:
Or sprints:
But you can see that one sprint race that stands out among the rest. Indeed, that 6th place finish was her best WC result, and her only top 10. She had a total of 15 races where she landed in the top 30, across both disciplines. She was most definitely a freestyle specialist, having competed in only 3 WC classic events and another 2 mixed technique events (i.e. pursuits). All the rest were skating.
Given her limited exposure to the WC scene, lets look at all of her results using FIS points:
Steadily between 75-125 FIS points for several seasons in distance races, possibly even sliding backwards a little, and then there was a rather major jump in 2007. Then there’s the near total absence in 2009, which I’d have to guess is an injury (or sometimes with women it’s a baby).
Her World Junior results were ok, but not great: 19th, 33rd, 46th, 51st. Interestingly, though, she scored a 1st and 5th at U23s in 2007.
After going from zero to hero between 2007 and 2009, Dario Cologna took a step backwards in 2010, falling to fourth in the race for the Crystal Globe. While he was still undeniably one of the strongest men in the World Cup field, as his bronze medal on the Tour de Ski and gold in the Olympic 15 k show, Cologna’s leg injury in the fall slowed him at start to the season. He failed to crack the top 10 until December 19 in Rogla, Slovenia, and his first medal came during the fifth stage of the Tour de Ski, during a slightly awkward sprint finish with Petter Northug and Marcus Hellner.
But more importantly, Switzerland wasn’t just the Dario Cologna show last year. Curdin Perl was a solid-if-not-spectacular distance skier, and more
Curdin Per's FIS profile picture
importantly, looks like he really loves life. Toni Livers and Remo Fischer were similar, and after the first race at the Olympics, where all four skiers finished a Canadian-esque top 17 on the day, hopes were high for the relay. But they were unable to pull off a Czech-like upset there.
As for the sprinters, Eligius Tamborino was the best after Cologna. His chief problem is his abysmal classic sprinting, in which he failed to qualify for a single set of heats, while in skate he made the cut.
As for women, things are a little light. Silvana Bucher was the best of the lot, collecting all her points in just three stops on the circuit – most notably finishing sixth in the competitive skate sprint in Oslo, Norway. Meanwhile Bettina Gruber, currently nursing a shoulder injury, skate sprinted well, although like Tamborino, her classic technique could use some work.
In other news, longtime women’s team stalwart Laurence Rochat has decided to end her career. At the same time, sprinter Seraina Mischol, who scored over 500 World Cup points in 2008, was pegged to retire after collecting just one point last season. But she’s still training hard.
What You Should Know For This Season
Despite finishing fourth and taking a large hit in World Cup points in 2009-2010, Cologna is nowhere near finished. He is arguably the third best all-around skier on the World Cup, after Northug and Hellner, and is a good bet to finish in the top 10 no matter what race is on tap.
While he may have the worst nickname on the circuit (Super Dario – really?) Cologna does have a massive fan club, with nearly 6,000 fans on Facebook. In comparison, FasterSkier has a paltry 600.
If you thought the Canadians had a confusing and convoluted coaching history, check out Switzerland. The Swiss briefly picked up Canadian castoff Inge Braten this spring, but he failed to stick, and after dismissing him this fall, they opted instead for Guri Hetland (wife of former Norwegian sprint star and current Swiss sprint coach, Tor Arne Hetland) to lead their distance team, with Fredrik Aukland, Dario Cologna’s personal coach, in a support role. Still not really sure who is coaching whom in Switzerland? Yeah, us neither.
For immediate World Cup success, Silvana Bucher is the best bet. She has the speed, obviously knows the sprint course in Oslo quite well, and won two distance races plus the sprint at Swiss National Championships last year.
![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/bucher1.png" "bucher1")
![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/bucher3.png" "bucher3")
![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/bucher2.png" "bucher2")
