Third Kitzbuehel downhill ski training cancelled

The third and final training run for the men's World Cup downhill here scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled because of warm weather. Racers were lucky enough to have had two successful days of training in perfect conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of Saturday's downhill. But organisers here are concerned that forecast rain and snow might disrupt Friday's super-G, with Swiss resort Crans Montana in line to host the race on February 25-26, should it be cancelled here. The warmer weather could prove to be a real headache for the condition of the Hahnenkamm, or rooster's comb, an unforgiving Austrian mountain throwing up the toughest course on the demanding World Cup circuit. Saturday's 72nd running of the event, which made its debut in 1931, is over a piste more than 3.3 kilometres long, with racers reaching motorway-coasting speeds of 130kph while being forced into negotiating 80-metre jumps. There have been some extremely gruesome crashes, making pre-race training a must for the racers, and warmer weather hampers the exact grooming of the steep and technically demanding slope. Defending champion Didier Cuche is favourite to retain his title, the 37-year-old Swiss topping the second training session as he looks to add a fifth downhill podium-topping display on the Streif to his laureates.