Austrian wins first World Cup rave
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Val Gardena, Italy, provided the beautiful backdrop to a highly competitive men’s World Cup downhill.
Christmas came early for Austria’s Max Franz as he outpaced a ski legend to win his first ever World Cup race.
Austrian skiing pride restored in Italy: Max Franz ended Austria's frustrating 21-month wait for a… https://t.co/OqiWFBmML9 #BCSIN #BajaSur pic.twitter.com/1wPmeQ6S31
— La Paz BCS Mexico (@La_Paz_BCS) December 17, 2016
Chasing the time set by Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, Franz had the crowd gasping as he overturned the lead of the Norwegian 0.41 seconds.
Franz poprvé v kariéře ovládl sjezd,
akselsvindal</a> porazil o čtyři setiny <a href="https://t.co/9W8u0Z4vRl">https://t.co/9W8u0Z4vRl</a> <a href="https://t.co/FdKcVas0g1">pic.twitter.com/FdKcVas0g1</a></p>— ČT sport (sportCT) December 17, 2016
Svindal an Olympic gold medalist and the first male alpine racer to win titles in four consecutive world championships thought he had done enough to claim the prize as most of his rivals had already descended.
Then came Franz to pinch an exhilarating win.
Third place went to Steven Nyman the American is really making a name for himself.
1st
fisalpine</a> victory for <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxFranzAUT">MaxFranzAUT ahead ofakselsvindal</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Steven_Nyman">Steven_Nyman on the #saslongSkiAustria_Men</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/usskiteam">usskiteam #ichbindabei pic.twitter.com/uys3uFs8bl— FIS GrödenValGardena (@skiworldcup) December 17, 2016
The men’s tour ups sticks to Alta Badia, one valley away, for Sunday’s giant slalom and parallel giant slalom on Monday evening.