After four cancellations, a major surprise for the first men’s World Cup downhill of the winter: the American Bryce Bennett won Thursday in Val Gardena (Italy) ahead of the big favorite, the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Bennett, who started with bib N.34, was ahead of Kilde by 3/100th, and the Swiss Marco Odermatt, 3rd at 5/100th.
The American, 31, signs his second victory on the world circuit, two years after a first success in Val Gardena, already.
Thanks to his “big” bib, he benefited from faster conditions, particularly at the bottom of the Saslong, warmed by the sun.
He deprived Kilde, 2023 world vice-champion in the specialty, of a fourth victory in the Dolomites resort.
Odermatt is still chasing his first success in a World Cup downhill but the Swiss phenomenon, winner of the last two editions of the general classification of the World Cup and 2023 world champion in downhill, has never been so close to the consecration.
A second descent is on the program for the Val Gardena stage on Saturday, this time over the entirety of the formidable Saslong.
Frenchman Nils Allegre finished in 4th place, at 13/100th, equaling his best result in the World Cup, in super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) in February 2021.
The event was contested in almost perfect conditions, under the sun: the weather had until then deprived the competition downhill specialists, with the cancellations in November of the two descents of Zermatt/Cervinia (Switzerland/Italy) and early December of the two from Beaver Creek (United States).
The Val Gardena stage continues on Friday with a super-G.
