VAL GARDENA: American skier Bryce Bennett was the surprise winner of the first men’s World Cup downhill of the season at Val Gardena in Italy on Thursday. The 31-year-old Californian, who was 35th in the downhill rankings last year, edged favourite Aleksander Kilde by just 0.03 seconds to claim only his second World Cup win.

His previous success also came in the same event at Val Gardena two years ago as did his first notable finish, a fourth place in 2018. “I like this piste,” said Bennett, still in disbelief at his sudden change in fortune. “My goal was to finish among the top 30, or even aim for the top-15, I didn’t expect this result at all.

“But when I woke up this morning, I said to myself that I had to put aside all my doubts and it worked.” Marco Odermatt, who won the giant slalom at Val d’Isere on Saturday, completed the podium, finishing 0.05sec behind Bryce.

Odermatt, who is still waiting for his first World Cup downhill success, is now level with Marco Schwarz at the top of the overall standings with 160 points, 36 ahead of Manuel Feller. Thursday’s downhill was only the third event in the men’s calendar to be completed with seven of the nine cancelled because of bad weather.

Wearing bib 34, Bryce benefitted from faster conditions, particularly at the bottom of the Saslong, warmed by the sun. He deprived Kilde, silver medallist in the 2023 world championships in the discipline, of a fourth victory in the Dolomites resort.

“I didn’t ski fast enough to win. I did well in some sections, a little less well in others,” admitted Kilde, who has won three of the previous five downhills in Val Gardena. A second downhill, this time over the entirety of the formidable Saslong, is scheduled for Saturday during a busy programme of four events in four days. On Friday, the men will switch to super-G.

Prior to last Saturday’s giant slalom, the only other race to go ahead was a slalom in Gurgl, Austria. The season’s giant slalom opener in neighbouring Soelden was cancelled, before two downhills in Zermatt-Cervinia (Switzerland/Italy) were also scratched. The races at the American resort of Beaver Creek — two downhills and a super-G — were wiped out by heavy snowfall and high winds. — AFP