Switzerland's Didier Cuche and USA's Bode Miller were not at the start for the first run of the Val d'Isère giant slalom because of injuries.
Cuche, the impressive winner at Soelden in October suffered a bad crash on Thursday while free-skiing the Super-G course on La Face at Bellevarde and told the press that he has been skiing with pain at his shoulder and his ribs in the recent races events here, the Super-combined and the Super-G he finished in only 9th place yesterday.
Miller apparently slightly injured himself at his ankle yesterday afternoon while playing volley ball with his teammates and decided to skipp the race on the treacherous 'La Face' course to better prepare the next speed events at Val Gardena on Friday and Saturday.
The French crowd will also miss Jean Baptiste Grange, who tore his ACL at his right knee last week at Beaver Creek and former slalom World Champion Ivica Kostelic who drove to Basle on Friday to undergo surgery at his injured meniscus of his kee.
PkL
