Mayer tops the first training in Kitzbuehel, ahead of two strong outsiders

It was a wonderful day in Kitzbuehel as the best downhiller of the World Cup skied the first Audi FIS Ski World Cup training run on the legendary Streif.

Double Olympic Champion Matthias Mayer is the one who tackled the course the best with a winning time of 1:57:44. After a crash in the alpine combined and a DNF in the downhill in Wengen, the Austrian downhiller, who’s currently 15th in the discipline standing, comes back with a good performance. Mayer already earned three “Kitzbueheler Gams” in the super-g, including a golden one from his win in 2017, but his best result in the downhill is an 8th place so far.

Benjamin Thomsen sits in second place of today’s training. The Canadian racer impressed with very strong training performances this season and is currently in 14th position in the downhill ranking. His best result in career and only World Cup podium to date was a second place in the test event in Sochi back in 2012.

With Daniel Danklmaier, another Austrian made it on the podium in this first training run. The winner of yesterday’s European Cup race proved that he doesn’t only master the shortened Streif, but that he can also be fast when the races runs from the very top and goes over Hausberg into the World Cup finish area. He already participated in two Hahnenkamm World Cup downhills, finishing respectively 25th and 30th.

With a weather front coming in tonight, the organising committee has decided not to run another training tomorrow, but to schedule the second and last downhill training run on Thursday. Then, the testing phase will be over and the athletes will start the competition week-end with a super-g on Friday, followed by the downhill on Saturday and the slalom on Sunday.

Results are available here: Kitzbuehel DH TRA 1