At age 32, Swiss skier Mauro Caviezel got the first win of his late-blooming career in a World Cup super-G on Saturday.
Caviezel topped a podium with two racers getting their first career top-3 finishes. He was 0.10 seconds faster than Adrian Smiseth Sejersted of Norway and 0.54 clear of Austrian Christian Walder.
Caviezel's victory came at a special place in the French Alps. At Val d’Isère 19 years ago, his childhood idol Silvano Beltrametti was left paralyzed by a crash in downhill.
United States' Travis Ganong reacts after an alpine ski men's World Cup Super G in Val d' Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoAlessandro Trovati)
Beltrametti has since been a mentor for Caviezel, who comes from the same Graubünden region of Switzerland.
Caviezel won the opening super-G wearing the red bib noting he won the discipline standings last season. That title was earned with consistency — top-5 placings in all six races — without a signature win.
Travis Ganong’s fourth place, 0.76 back, was his best World Cup result in nearly four years. The American racer won a downhill in January 2017 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
United States' Travis Ganong speeds down the course during an alpine ski men's World Cup Super G in Val d' Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)
The result was unofficial with lower-ranked racers yet to start.
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Switzerland's Gilles Roulin speeds down the course during training for an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, in Val d'Isere, France Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (AP PhotoGabriele Facciotti)
Switzerland's Mauro Caviezel reacts after an alpine ski men's World Cup Super G in Val d' Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020. (AP PhotoAlessandro Trovati)