VAL D'ISERE, France — Long after most broadcasters had switched to other programs, unheralded No. 41 starter Martin Cater won the first downhill of the World Cup season on Sunday.
The television networks had a point. The 27-year-old Slovenian’s career-best result was eighth in his 38 previous World Cup downhills and he seemed unlikely to disturb an already unexpected 1-2 finish.
Instead, Cater raced down in bright sunshine under clear blue skies in the French Alps to seal an even more shocking podium result.
“For me it was a really good run but I didn’t believe it,” said Cater, who was 0.22 seconds faster than Otmar Striedinger to deny the Austrian his first career win.
Jeffrey Read of Canmore, Alta., was the top Canadian, finishing 26th. Toronto's James Crawford was 44th, Benjamin Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., was 47th and Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was 52nd
Striedinger was wearing bib No. 26 after dropping out of the top-ranked group last season, and had a best of third place in his 64 previous World Cup downhills.
Urs Kryenbühl was third, 0.27 back. The little-known Swiss seemed set for his debut win after being fastest of the top 20-ranked racers. He had a single top-10 result in his 41 career World Cup races, though that was as runner-up last year in Bormio, Italy.
Both Striedinger and Kryenbühl must have earlier thought victory was theirs, and both had taken part in a brief victory ceremony that World Cup organizers always stage after the top-30 downhill racers complete their run.
Those now outdated photographs included the defending World Cup overall champion, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was pushed down to fourth by Cater’s surprise success.
Asked what placing he expected on crossing the finish line, Cater said: “I was hoping not 36 or 37. It’s difficult to understand sometimes.”
Cater's previous best World Cup results were a pair of sixth places, including in the Alpine combined event last January at Wengen, Switzerland.
Beat Feuz and Dominik Paris, the most prolific downhill racers in recent years, placed sixth and 10th, respectively.
Defending World Cup downhill champion Feuz clocked the fastest speed-check at 116 kph (72mph) after losing time going wide at a turn in the mid-section.
American racer Ryan Cochran-Siegle was fastest of all on the bottom half of the course, yet trailing 0.81 behind the winning time was good for only 13th place.
Though Cater enjoyed excellent snow conditions and visibility starting his run just after midday, the sun had lit up the
The downhill was moved back one day from its scheduled slot to seek better weather. A super-G run Saturday amid light snowfalls and fog was won by another first-time winner, 32-year-old Mauro Caviezel of Switzerland.
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