An Azzurro beams with Kilde from the Val Gardena podium

Kilde won the World Cup downhill with a brilliant performance in his “living room” in Val Gardena. In his most recent seven starts on the Saslong, Kilde was able to celebrate victory at the finish line four times. On this sunny winter sports Saturday, the exceptional athlete's fifth coup came. Hardly any other ski professional feels as comfortable in the valley of the wood carvers as the 30-year-old Norwegian.

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was in a class of his own. © Saslong Classic Club

Kilde conjured up an excellent ride in the South Tyrolean snow, caught the key spots Kamelbuckel and Ciaslat Wiesn ideally and thus canceled out a surprise coup by World Cup oldie Johan Clarey (he will be 42 in three weeks). The Frenchman was able to celebrate his third podium finish in Val Gardena in second place.

Casse causes cheers at the finish However, Clarey really had to worry about his second place when Mattia Casse with the high starting number 27 put on an unexpected gala performance. The 32-year-old veteran from Piedmont caught a perfect line and offered a smooth ride from top to bottom. In the end he wasn't able to catch Kilde and Clarey, but with third place and a loud shout of joy on the downswing he made a real noise in the well-filled finish area.

Casse recorded the first podium finish for Italy's struggling speed team this winter and also the Azzurri's first downhill podium finish in Val Gardena since Dominik Paris' third place in 2014.

No birthday present for Innerhofer There was nothing to gain for the two best downhill skiers from South Tyrol. Dominik Paris showed improvement and kept up with the best in the upper and lower parts of the track, but made a fatal mistake in the Ciaslat entrance. In the end, this threw him back to 42nd place.

Christoph Innerhofer fared somewhat better, but was far from giving himself a present on his 38th birthday. He was also more than two seconds behind and missed the points in 36th place. The surprise man from the Super-G, Florian Schieder from Castelrotto was ranked 50th.

The South Tyrolean World Cup week continues on Sunday (10 a.m./13.30 p.m.) with the giant slalom in Alta Badia.

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An Azzurro beams with Kilde from the Val Gardena podium

Who would have thought? An Italian who has never been on the podium before in his career has shaken up the world's best in the downhill classic on the Saslong. Only Aleksander Aamodt Kilde's victory could not be shaken.

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