KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — Adrien Theaux of France earned his second career World Cup victory Saturday by narrowly beating home favorite Aksel Lund Svindal in a downhill.
Theaux raced down the steep 1.64-mile course in 1 minute, 29.10 seconds to edge Svindal by 0.19 seconds. Klaus Kroell of Austria was 0.50 seconds back in third. The Frenchman’s only previous win came in March 2011 in Switzerland.
Svindal’s second-place finish meant he made up some ground on overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher and now trails the Austrian by 129 points. The Norwegian also extended his lead over Kroell in the downhill standings.
Saturday’s race had been threatened by strong winds over Scandinavia but the gusts did not arrive in time for the race and the downhill went on as planned.
The downhill is followed by a super-G on Sunday.
