“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.