Story highlights
Svindal wins Wengen downhill for first time
Moves ahead of Hirscher in overall standings
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen wins men's slalom
“Serious snow” and dense fog could not slow down Aksel Lund Svindal’s momentum in Wengen on Saturday.
Skiing’s comeback king continued his fine form and claimed the overall World Cup lead with victory on the circuit’s longest downhill course.
The Norwegian posted online about a big snow dump on Lauberhorn mountain ahead of the race, and was on the piste at the onset of fog which would cause a lengthy delay that hit the hopes of Svindal’s rival and teammate Kjetil Jansrud.
Jansrud had beaten Svindal to victory in Friday’s super-combined event at the Swiss resort, but this time was well off the pace in 12th.
His friend, meanwhile, claimed his sixth win this season – 0.19 seconds ahead of Hannes Reichelt, with another Austrian, Klaus Kroll, taking third place.
Svidal negotiated the 2.8-mile run in one minute, 48.79 seconds to add to his downhill wins at Lake Louise, Beaver Creek and Val Gardena in the 2015-16 season.
“It was hard today, but I just focused on finding the best line and skiing a clean run,” said Svindal, who missed most of last season due to injury.
“It feels good, I’ve been chasing Wengen for a while. Been fast here but didn’t really have the margins on my side. It was nice to pull it off today.”
Speed specialist Svindal moved 15 points clear of defending World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher, a technical skier who can reclaim the lead in Sunday’s slalom at Wengen.
Svindal, 33, leads the downhill standings by 108 points from Reichelt, with Jansrud fourth – the same position the Olympic super-G champion holds in the overall championship.
Norway continued its domination Sunday with Henrik Kristoffersen claiming yet another victory in the men’s slalom, his fourth of the season, to extend his lead in the overall standings for the discipline.
He totaled one minute 37.85 seconds over his two runs on the Lauberhorn to win by 0.30 seconds from Giuliano Razzoli with a second Italian, Stefano Gross, completing the podium.
Victory also cemented Kristoffersen’s third place in the overall standings behind Svindal, who does not compete in slalom, and Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who skied out on the second run after being ninth on the first leg.
Sunday’s women’s World Cup racing saw Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany win for the first time this season, taking a giant slalom in Flachau, Austria.
Ana Drev of Slovakia and Federica Brignone finished second and third. Lara Gut of Switzerland could only manage 19th after a mistake on the second run, but extended her lead in the overall standings to 50 points over Lindsey Vonn, who skied out on her second run.
