Plauderecke » leaving his World Cup rivals in awe just

KITZBUEHEL, Austria -- Bode Miller led a training session for the classic Hahnenkamm race by a huge margin on Thursday, leaving his World Cup rivals in awe just 17 days before the Sochi Olympics downhill. Miller was well ahead of the field from the first split time before finishing the challenging Streif course in 2 minutes, 2.93 seconds. Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal came 0.96 back in second, while third-place Hannes Reichelt of Austria finished a massive 2.35 seconds behind the American. "Ive been focusing on this race all year," said Miller, who finished runner-up in 2008 and 11 but has yet to win the downhill in the Austrian resort. "I know its hard to win here. Ive put a lot of energy in being ready here ... And I think I had fast skis today, too. Obviously on this track you cant do much if your skis are not running." Last years winner Dominik Paris of Italy and Olympic downhill champion Didier Defago of Switzerland shared 10th, trailing Miller by 3.21 seconds. Canadas Erik Guay skipped the training run to rest his troublesome knee. The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., who leads Canada in career World Cup medals, underwent surgery in the summer to address a knee injury that bothered him at the end of last season. Conrad Pridy of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian in 24th. Manuel Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., was 25th, Ben Thomsen of Invermere, Que., was 39th and Morgan Pridy of Whistler was tied for 48th. Dustin Cook of Lac Sainte-Marie, Que., was 59th and Jeffrey Frisch of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was 60th. It was the only training run before Saturdays race after mild temperatures softened the snow and made runs earlier this week impossible. Organizers had to change the bottom part of the course to avoid the Hausbergkante, one of the marquee sections, where snow conditions were still insufficient. Miller mastered the steep upper section by choosing a different race line, allowing him to take more speed coming out of the Steilhang curve. "I was higher through the Steilhang and exited it much better than where the tracks were," Miller said. "The tracks were done before me, no one was up high where I was. That makes a huge difference. You cut off the line but you also carry speed onto the road." Miller drew praise from his competitors, who acknowledged they had been left with some homework before Saturdays race. "Bode was fantastic," Reichelt said. "My run wasnt great and I am definitely going to watch a video of Bodes run." His Austrian teammate Max Franz added "Bode had a very clean run. We have something to analyze." Christof Innerhofer, who is chasing his first downhill podium of the season, said he was unable to ski like Miller did. "He is crazy, he raced a killer line. I tried that line as well but I just didnt succeed," the Italian said. "I am not having a great season so far. But I felt well on the snow today and I want to attack here." Even Svindal, winner of two downhills and two super-G races this season, said he was going to study footage of Millers performance. "You know Bode can pull off that kind of thing," the Norwegian said. "When I think about my run, I am not surprised that someone can be a lot faster from the top. I wasnt able to stick to my plan because I got bumped out of my line. I have the speed but I need to clean up the first part. I will definitely watch Bodes run on video." The changed bottom section caused many racers troubles. Where they usually go right into the Hausbergkante coming off a fast straight part, they now faced a sharp left turn left. To Miller, it didnt make much of a difference. "Its a different set of skills thats tested," the American said. "The cool thing is no one skies that so its pretty even for everybody. No one has had a change to ever have a run like that so I think its OK." Saturdays race is the penultimate downhill before the Olympic race on Feb. 9. The Hahnenkamm event starts with a slalom Friday and concludes with a super-G and a super-combined race Sunday. Cheap Hockey Jerseys China . Harris has played in six games since joining the Argos in 2012, completing 17-of-35 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown. NHL Jerseys Outlet . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. http://www.wholesalejerseyshockey.com/ . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. Wholesale China Jerseys . 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