Cochran-Siegle back on the confidence train

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – Going by recent results, Ryan Cochran-Siegle was America’s hottest prospect coming into the 2021 World Cup speed series at Beaver Creek.

His breakthrough season ended abruptly last January when the Vermont native suffered a horrific crash in the Kitzbuhel downhill less than a month after notching his first career World Cup victory on the notoriously challenging Bormio super G course, which was preceded by his first podium in the Val Gardena downhill.

In the Kitzbuhel crash, Cochran-Siegle suffered fractured vertebra and had to sit the season out. In the spring he made the switch from long-time ski sponsor Rossignol to HEAD, landing none other than Heinz Hämmerle – famous for servicing many winning skis for Lindsey Vonn – as his technician. Adjusting to all new gear takes time, though. U.S. Men’s Head Coach Forest Carey equates it to a racecar switching to all-new tires.

“Ryan is such a hard worker, such a disciplined guy and an amazing skier,” Carey said before Saturday’s race. “There’s no doubt he’ll do well on the new stuff. It’s just about keeping the expectations to win. To compete to win, you have to be so dialed. It’s not like we’re worried.”

After launching into the season in Soelden, missing the second run giant slalom flip by one-hundredth of a second, the 29-year-old followed up with a 10th place – the best U.S. result – at the season-opening downhill race in Lake Louise.

However, since arriving in Beaver Creek and opening this race series with a squirrely downhill training run followed by a 19th place in the first super G and a DNF resulting from a missed gate in the second, Cochran-Siegle had kept a low profile, leaving the finish area in a hurry shortly after completing his races.

That changed on Saturday, however, when the American matched his best ever result at Beaver Creek. The second racer down the course, Cochran-Siegle charged to sixth place, matching his 2019 downhill result on the Birds of Prey downhill course and exhibiting his potential for bouncing right back following last season’s injury and equipment swap.

“After the last three days I just wanted some confidence,” Cochran-Siegle said after Saturday’s race, in which he finished with a time of 1 minute, 40.87 seconds – 1.24 seconds off of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde’s winning pace, but just 0.23 seconds off of the podium.

“Today I was just focused on going out and skiing and not trying to do too much,” he said. “I know I have the ability to ski fast, it’s just a matter of putting it together on race day. This was a step in the right direction.”

Describing his neck injury as “pretty well recovered,” Cochran-Siegle also said he has zero doubts about his HEAD setup — it’s his own head that still needs tweaking.

“I had a little issue with the snow on the training run and that put me a step back. It took a lot of confidence out of me,” he said. “It’s just mental. The gear is awesome. I have an incredible support system. Heinz is the man. I have 100 percent faith in what I have right now. Today is just about regaining confidence, trusting my skiing, trusting that I’m a good skier and can go out there and just have fun with it. It’s not about fourth or 10th or 20th. It’s more about the skiing than it is about the result right now.”

Coming from a family that’s three generations deep in alpine racing prowess, including his mother – Olympic champion Barbara Ann Cochran –  Cochran-Siegle is hoping to carry his momentum and confidence to the medal stands in Beijing. But for the moment, he’s just thinking about the next race.

“It was good today, but I’m trying to gain, build that confidence,” he said. “I hope I can stay in there and do what I can for tomorrow, too.  I’m more of a confident skier and when I have results behind me I feel like I can let loose a little bit. Sticking back to fundamentals for me is key and definitely confidence now that I was able to go out and put a good run down.”