Aleksander Aamodt Kilde beats Mauro Caviezel in Val Gardena Super G

Reigning overall World Cup champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde claimed his first win of the new season in the Val Gardena Super G on Friday (18 December).

Kilde clocked 1:26.29 in fine conditions on the famous Saslong slope to secure his fifth career Alpine Ski World Cup victory.

Swiss skier Mauro Caviezel continued his amazing comeback from Achilles surgery by taking second, just +0.12s behind after his first World Cup win in the Super G at Val d'Isere six days ago.

There were more celebrations for Norway's Attacking Vikings as Sochi 2014 Super G gold medallist Kjetil Jansrud was nine-hundredths further back in third.

Austria's double Olympic champion Matthias Mayer was fourth ahead of Andreas Sander of Germany who matched his best World Cup finish achieved in the 2016 Val Gardena Super G.

Kilde told Saslong.org, "Today is truly a great day. The race week in Val Gardena/Gröden has always been a special one for me - this year even more so than usual because I did feel some pressure in the run-up. But I had a concrete plan right from the start, which I then implemented perfectly in the race.

Marco Odermatt finished ninth to move to the top of the overall World Cup standings with previous leader Alexis Pinturault skipping the race.

Kilde's 100 points for the win lifts him into third place above Croatia's Filip Zubcic.

The skiers are back on the Saslong tomorrow for the downhill with American racer Samuel Dupratt missing after his heavy crash in Thursday training.

Kilde is the defending champion having won in 2018 before poor weather forced last year's race to be cancelled.

After his Super G victory, he said, "Tomorrow is the next highlight with the downhill, and I will be on full attack again."