VAL GARDENA, Italy, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen confirmed his status as compatriot Marco Odermatt's main rival for the top speed event at the Olympics when he beat the overall World Cup leader to claim the Val Gardena World Cup classic downhill on Saturday.
Von Allmen, second to Odermatt in Thursday’s sprint downhill in the Dolomites resort, powered down a tricky Saslong piste in one minute 58.67, 0.30 faster than his teammate for his fourth World Cup victory, one day after crashing out of the super-G.
Florian Schieder, one of the local favourites hailing from South Tyrol, took third place 0.98 off the pace.
Odermatt, who finished second in Friday’s super-G in Val Gardena, again extended his lead in the overall World Cup standings to a massive 463 points over Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen.
The 28-year-old will have another chance to add to his 765 points in Sunday’s giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy.
Odermatt, who leads the downhill, super-G and giant slalom World Cup standings, will be one of the men to beat at the February 6-22 Milano Cortina Olympics.
The men’s races will take place in Bormio, where Odermatt has won two of his 50 World Cup races, both in super-G.
He is likely to also face stern competition from Italian Dominik Paris, who has clinched six World Cup downhills and one super-G on the Stelvio course.
One day after being upset by late starter Jan Zabystran of the Czech Republic in the super-G, Odermatt was denied this time by downhill world champion Von Allmen, who was steadier on the Saslong, whose treacherous bumps sent several skiers crashing.
The two Swiss, however, were in a league of their own as Schieder was the only other competitor to finish with one second of Von Allmen and none of the others skiers managed to cause a late upset despite improving conditions.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
