11:29 | Good Morning from Gardena/Gröden.

11:30 | In 45 minutes the Downhill race will finally begin!

11:31 | Today's Downhill is the 50th here on the Saslong. The first race took place in 1969.

11:31 | Yesterday evening the anticipated snowfall luckily arrived late. Nevertheless it coverd the piste with 10cm of fresh snow.

11:31 | 10cm doesn't sound like a lot, but on a 3.4km long piste......that is quite a lot of snow.

11:32 | Those responsbile for the race track started preparing the piste with the snowcats already at 11pm.

11:33 | A hundred-man strong team headed out at 4am this morning to clear the fresh snow from the race track.

11:34 | The clouds seem to be lifting. Perhaps there will be some sunshine at the start of the race.

11:39 | Although the weather seems to be quite good at the moment, the jury has decided to move the Start further down.

11:39 | The Start is being moved due to strong winds on the upper part of the slope.

11:42 | The Start will be moved 30m further down, so the race track is no longer 3446m long, but only 3326m. Instead of 36 gates there will now only be 34.

11:44 | The temperatures have dropped drastically over night. At the moment the thermometre only shows -11 degrees Celsius at the Start. At the Finish it is only -5 degrees Celsius.

11:50 | Only 20 minutes to go till the start of the race. In the meantime let's wish Christof Innerhofer a Happy Birthday. The Super G World Cup champion is 27 today and will start with bib number 11. Perhaps on his birthday he will finally have a good race here in Gardena/Gröden.

11:51 | So far this winter season there have been 2 World Cup Downhill races. One was won by Didier Cuche, the other by Bode Miller.

11:51 | However, leader of the Downhill World Cup so far is yesterday's Super G winner: Beat Feuz.

11:51 | Feuz was second in the last two Downhill races. Can he manage to win both races here in Gardean/Gröden?

11:52 | So far only one skier has managed to win both races in a row on the Saslong.

11:55 | This was Franz Klammer.

11:58 | Three racers have managed to win both the Downhill as well as the Super G during their career, but not in the same season.

11:58 | These are: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Lasse Kjus and Michi Walchhofer.

12:00 | Only quarter of an hour till the start of the race.

12:01 | The first camera man has reached the Finish: Hans Knauss, commentator for Austria's ORF.

12:06 | The first forerunner has started.

12:08 | The races promises to be very exciting right from the beginning: Hans Olsson (SWE) who clocked the best time in both training runs starts with bib number 2.

12:08 | And the last clouds have disappeared.

12:12 | Only three minutes to go!

12:15 | Ivica Kostelic is at the Start. He will open the 50th World Cup Downhill on the Saslong.

12:15 | The race has started!

12:16 | During the training run Kostelic clocked 2:00.98 minutes. Let's see how long he takes on the 120 m shortened race track.

12:16 | Rather a bumpy ride for Kostelic over the Ciasloat meadow.

12:17 | Kostelic at the Finish. Time: 1:59.04 minutes.

12:17 | He certainly skied faster than during training.

12:17 | But careful, now comes Hans Olsson, who clocked best time in both training runs on the Saslong.

12:18 | He is very fast in the top section.

12:18 | Will the early starting number be an advantage or disadvantage?

12:18 | Olsson is skiing faster and faster and is already 2 seconds ahead of Kostelic by the time he reaches the Camel Humps.

12:18 | Oops, he wobbled at the entrance to Ciaslat. That was not ideal.

12:18 | But he finishes with a huge time advantage: 2.58 seconds in front of Kostelic.

12:19 | Olsson seems very happy with his race.

12:20 | With 1:56.46 minutes he beat his best time in training by a second.

12:21 | Stephan Keppler is on the piste.

12:21 | At the Camel Humps he is in front of of Olsson by 0.07 seconds.

12:21 | Oh no, a big mistake on the Ciaslat section.

12:21 | He has fallen back by 0.24 seconds.

12:21 | Keppler could not beat Olsson today and reaches the finish line 0.6 seconds back.

12:21 | Werner Heel, the first Italian racer has started.

12:21 | Yesterday he disappointed and only placed 40th

12:22 | In the top section he is faster than Olsson.

12:22 | But in the middle section Heel loses time and is now half a second out.

12:23 | Bad entrance into the Ciaslat section!

12:23 | This year the Ciaslat section seems to be very difficult for the athletes.

12:24 | Heel has a huge time difference at the Finish: 1.48 seconds behind Olsson. Unfortunately no surprise from the South Tyrolean skier.

12:24 | It seems that Olsson skied the bottom section really well.

12:25 | Robbie Dixon (CAN) confirms this. First he was close to Olsson, but at the Camel Humps he had already fallen back by half a second.

12:25 | Robbie Dixon crosses the finish line in third place with 1.17 seconds delay.

12:26 | Yves Bertrand started well and has nearly the same time as Olsson in the top half.

12:26 | Bertand is leading at the Camel Humps.

12:26 | Betrand skis well in the Ciaslat section.

12:26 | The Frenchman leaves Olsson behind.

12:27 | Bertrand leads by 0.13 seconds in front of Olsson.

12:27 | Olsson couldn't repeat the best time from his two training runs.

12:28 | Now Ambrosi Hoffman. Two years ago the 34-year-old placed third here.

12:29 | Hoffmann is skiing as fast as the leaders.

12:29 | Ciaslat seems to be the cracking point.

12:30 | Hoffman crosses the line as 4th.

12:30 | The next Swiss, Patrick Künig, is incredibly fast at the top.

12:30 | He is leading by 0.4 seconds.

12:31 | Patrick Küng is first at the Finish and is now leading in front of Yannick Bertrand.

12:31 | Küng's advantage: 0.27 seconds.

12:32 | Now comes Adrien Theaux (FRA). He is leading at the top.

12:33 | He is still leading by 0.13 seconds at the Camel Humps.

12:33 | But the gap is closing.

12:33 | At the Finish he leads by 0.15 seconds.

12:33 | Theaux achieved best time in each section of the race course!

12:33 | What an exciting race!

12:33 | Now Theaux's compatriot Johan Clarey has started.

12:33 | He likes the Saslong. He was third here once.

12:34 | But Clarey can not catch Theaux.

12:35 | But in the middle section Clarey skied really strongly: Only 0.06 seconds back.

12:36 | At the Finish Clarey is in the lead!

12:36 | The Frenchman is leading with 1:55.80 minutes, in front of his compatriot Theaux.

12:36 | Everybody is cheering in the finish area.

12:36 | The reason: Innerhofer has just started.

12:36 | But the cheering doesn't last long: Innerhofer lies far back.

12:36 | Gardena/Gröden is too easy for him, Innerhofer always says.

12:36 | At the Finish Innerhofer has a huge time delay and only places 9th.

12:37 | He shakes his head!

12:37 | Comebacker Mario Scheiber is on the piste.

12:38 | The Austrian has not participated in a Downhill race since January 2011.

12:38 | Today he won't manage a top placement.

12:39 | At the finish Scheiber is 2.42 seconds behind. Only Ivica Kostelic was slower.

12:40 | But careful: Now comes Eric Guay. The Canadian loves the Gardena/Gröden Downhill and always skis well here.

12:41 | He is skiing well in the top section.

12:41 | At the Camel Humps he is leading by 0.11 seconds.

12:41 | His advantage is growing. Guay skis the middle section superbly.

12:41 | But he loses his advantage in the Ciaslat section.

12:41 | At the Finish Eric Guay only places 4th, 0.35 seconds out.

12:42 | No luck for Erik Guay today.

12:42 | Carlo Janka has started.

12:42 | In the top section he is the slowest racer today.

12:43 | It's not his day today.

12:43 | 2.5 seconds out! That says it all.

12:43 | When Didier Defago started the race one could see strong winds at the Start.

12:44 | This has huge influence on the performance: Already 1.5 seconds behind in the top section.

12:44 | Defago keeps on losing time.

12:45 | We can forget about Defago and concentrate on the other top racers.

12:45 | Defago crosses the line with 2.78 seconds delay and places second last.

12:46 | After the first 15 racers the two Frenchmen Clarey and Theaux are leading.

12:46 | Hans Olsson, the guy with the two best training times, is only in 6th position.

12:47 | Last year's winner Silvan Zurbriggen has started the race.

12:48 | One thing is clear straight away: He won't be able to repeat his win.

12:49 | He is already lagging by more than a second.

12:49 | Zurbriggen crosses the finish line in 8th position, 1.4 seconds out.

12:50 | Romed Baumann is on the piste. Last year he was second here.

12:50 | He is skiing well in the top section.

12:51 | But he is 0.7 seconds behind at the Camel Humps.

12:51 | He loses even more time when crossing the Ciaslat meadows. His time delay at the Finish: 1.5 seconds and only 10th place.

12:52 | Baumann is not happy. He is shaking his head.

12:52 | The raace has been interrupted before the start of Didier Cuche. The reason must be the strong winds in the top section.

12:55 | The race goes on! Didier Cuche (SUI), third in last year's race, has been allowed to start.

12:55 | Or had to start? He is already 1.2 seconds behind in the top section.

12:56 | The time gap increases even for Cuche to 1.9 seconds. Incredible!

12:56 | The wind was certainly the party pooper for Cuche.

12:56 | Even in the finish area a huge gust of wind is swirling the snow around.

12:57 | Cuche crosses the finish line 2.43 seconds out.

12:57 | And again now Downhill victory for Cuche here in Gardena/Gröden.

12:58 | The race has been interrupted again, before Beat Feuz (SUI), yesterday's winner can start.

13:04 | The race is still interrupted.

13:04 | Quote Christof Innerhofer: Unfortunately the conditions are not the same for everybody. A lot of speed was also lost because of the lower starting point.

13:11 | Strong winds still have a hold on the Saslong.

13:17 | Today's race could prove to be as protracted as the two training runs.

13:18 | The first training run took 4 hours, the second one three.

13:28 | The race will most likely start again soon. The forerunners are on the race course again.

13:32 | Beat Feuz is getting ready at the Start.

13:33 | The winner of yesterday's Super G has started.

13:33 | Feuz is skiing aggressively, but is already half a second behind in the top section.

13:33 | The time gap is constantly increasing.

13:33 | Has this race already been decided?

13:34 | But let's not say too much: Feuz is closing the gap again in the bottom section!

13:35 | But now Beat Feuz is losing time again and crosses the finish line 1.64 seconds back.

13:36 | Now it's the turn of the Norwegian Aksel Svindal.

13:36 | Svindal won the Super G here in 2009.

13:36 | He is already 1 second out.

13:37 | At the Camel Humps his delay has increased to one and a half seconds.

13:37 | Optically Svindal is skiing a good line, but the time gap increases.

13:37 | Svindal places 14th, nearly 2 seconds out.

13:38 | What can Klaus Kröll manage to do on the piste?

13:39 | The Austrian is "only" half a second behind in the top section.

13:39 | But in the lower section Klaus Kröll is catching up!

13:40 | Oh no: In the Ciaslat section all racers are losing speed, even Kröll.

13:40 | Kröll places 8th. He is the best Austrian skier so far.

13:41 | Now the last of the top favourites: Bode Miller (USA).

13:41 | But before he can start the race is interrupted again.

13:42 | Bode Miller takes his skis off again.

13:42 | Now the official news from the jury: The race has been cancelled!

13:43 | There will be no winner at this year'S 50th World Cup Downhill.

13:44 | Or to put it differently: The 50th race will only be held in 2012.

13:44 | What a shame for Clarey, Theaux and Küng who held the podium positions.

13:45 | Quote by Klaus Kröll, the last skier to race down the Saslong: The wind conditions were very difficult. It is good that the jury stopped the race.

13:46 | Statement Beat Feuz: You have no chance with this wind. It is best for all that this race has been cancelled.

13:48 | Statement Joachmin Puchner: The wind at the Start was incredible. There was no point continuing.

13:59 | Goodbye from the Saslong finish area and we hope to see you again in December 2012!