Canceled races bite into Americans’ World Cup leads

It hasn’t been a good World Cup Finals start for Americans Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn – and the finals haven’t even started.

Soft snow conditions wiped out the first two marquee events at the season-ending Alpine event in Bormio, Italy, raising the question:

Will two canceled downhill races make this an uphill fight?

Miller, 30, and Vonn, 23, are leading the World Cup overall standings in their quests to become the first male and female American skiers to win the coveted crowns in the same year since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney in 1983.

The cancellations, however, cost Miller and Vonn the chance to pad their leads in their strongest events and – with three races left – gave the competition hope of catching the Americans.

Miller, ranked No. 2 in the event, also lost a chance to win his first downhill crown as the canceled race secured the title for Switzerland’s Didier Cuche. The men’s race was scheduled for today but canceled on Tuesday because the conditions precluded the men from getting in the required practice run.

Miller, skiing as an independent after splitting with the U.S. ski team last spring, ripped organizers Tuesday for not racing, telling the Associated Press, “The evidence points to they didn’t want to get this race off.”

World Cup director Guenther Hujara said the race was canceled because the soft snow “did not provide safe conditions.”

The loss of the men’s and women’s downhill events, in terms of the overall race, may not have hurt Miller as much as Vonn, who had already clinched the downhill title.

Miller maintains a 169-point lead over Cuche in the overall with three races left: a super-giant slalom, giant slalom, and slalom.

Racers earn World Cup points on a sliding scale, starting with 100 points for first, 80 for second, 60 for third, 50 for fourth …

The key for Miller is finishing his final three races while scoring enough points to hold off Cuche. It would be the second World Cup overall title for Miller, who won in 2005.

Vonn started the finals with a 157-point lead over Germany’s Maria Riesch and a 178-point lead over Austria’s Nicole Hosp, the defending overall champion.

The three remaining races, however, are stronger disciplines for Vonn’s rivals. Riesch is No. 1 in super-G compared to Vonn’s No. 11 while Hosp is No. 6 in GS and No. 2 in slalom. Vonn is ranked No. 15 and No. 41 those events.

The women’s overall title may come down to Saturday’s final slalom.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com