Kilde completes Val Gardena double, wins downhill from Cochran-Siegle
Alexander Aamodt Kilde made it two World Cup wins in 24 hours on the Saslong as Ryan Cochran-Siegle achieved his first podium finish.
Alpine Skiing
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde loves the Saslong and proved it yet again by taking the Val Gardena downhill on Saturday (19 December).
The reigning overall World Cup champion clocked 2:01.45 to back up his win in yesterday's Super G and claim his sixth career Alpine Ski World Cup triumph.
The Norwegian also goes top of the overall standings this season, moving ahead of Marco Odermatt who did not race today.
Second place went to American skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle (+0.22s) who had his first World Cup podium finish.
Switzerland's two-time Olympic medallist Beat Feuz was third, 0.54s off the pace.
Kilde was delighted to match his countryman and double Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal who completed the Val Gardena Super G and downhill double on this day five years ago.
"It's a great feeling to follow in Aksel's footsteps with this double victory. He has always been a big idol for me and taught me a lot, so my successes are partly thanks to him." - Aleksander Aamodt Kilde speaking to Saslong.org
The Americans certainly exceeded expectations as Bryce Bennett tied for fourth with Kjetil Jansrud and Jared Goldberg finished in a career-best sixth place.
Double Olympic gold medallist Ted Ligety said in October that Cochran-Siegle was "starting to be really fast across a bunch of different disciplines", and the 28-year-old backed up that claim by improving substantially on his fifth place in last December's Bormio combined.
It's been a great weekend so far for the U.S. ski team with Breezy Johnson claiming her second consecutive podium in the women's downhill at Val d'Isere.
Back in the Dolomites, it was Norway's Kilde who dominated once more with his record at Val Gardena second to none.
He won the last downhill held there, in 2018, and now has three victories out of 12 podium finishes in 21 starts.
This latest victory puts him top of the overall World Cup standings on 335 points, 45 points clear of Odermatt with Alexis Pinturault a further 14 points back after the Frenchman opted to concentrate on Sunday's giant slalom at Alta Badia.