VAL GARDENA, Italy — Aleksander Aamodt Kilde returned to the top of the overall World Cup standings on Saturday after winning the classic Saslong downhill for his second victory in two days.
After triumphing in Friday’s super-G, the defending overall champion from Norway finished the downhill against a backdrop of the Italian Alps 0.22 seconds ahead of Ryan Cochran-Siegle.
The American earned his first career podium finish as he led a strong showing by the U.S. ski team, with Bryce Bennett in fourth, Jared Goldberg in sixth and Travis Ganong in 14th.
Former downhill world champion Beat Feuz of Switzerland trailed by 0.54 in third, and Kilde’s Norwegian teammate, Kjetil Jansrud, shared fourth place with Bennett.
Benjamin Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., was the top Canadian, finishing 39th. Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was 54th, James Crawford of Toronto was 55th and Jeffrey Read of Canmore, Alta., was 56th.
In his nine-year World Cup career, the 28-year-old Cochran-Siegle had previously racked up five top-10 results, including an eighth place in Saturday’s super-G.
In December 2011, Cochran-Siegle scored his first World Cup points in only his second race on the tour, a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
He won the junior world titles in downhill and combined a few months later, but had his promising career halted after badly damaging his knee in a crash at the world championships in Austria the following year.
“I had to battle back from that," the Burlington, Vermont native said. “I learned a lot and tried to take it day by day and slowly build my skiing. I am incredibly grateful for everyone who helped me to get to today.”
The American’s first podium came 50 years after his mother, 1972 Olympic slalom champion Barbara Cochran, won a silver medal at the 1970 Alpine skiing world championships at the same resort in northern Italy.
“I guess we like this hill,” Cochran-Siegle quipped.
The back-to-back wins propelled Kilde into the lead of the overall standings, ahead of Marco Odermatt and Alexis Pinturault.
Kilde won just one race in the entire last season. Still, he won the overall title as Marcel Hirscher’s successor after the record eight-time overall champion Austrian’s retirement.
“My skiing is even better this season. The speed is there. And I have more experience now. It’s just cool,” Kilde said.
The Norwegian didn’t want to read too much into his return to the top of the standings.
Last season, Kilde edged Pinturault and his Norwegian teammate, Henrik Kristoffersen, for the sport’s biggest prize.
“In Alta Badia they will be winning again for sure. So, it’s going to be a real fight again,” said Kilde, referring to the Italian venue that will host a giant slalom Sunday.
Italy is hosting five World Cup races in as many days, with slaloms coming up in Alta Badia on Monday and Madonna di Campiglio the next day.
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