While the big globe (for Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt) and the small globes of the downhill (for Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Sofia Goggia) were already awarded, the race did not offer suspense for the different classifications.

Under a bright sun, Stuhec and Kriechmayr were able to tame a track that did not succeed to the main favorites.

At the end of a very close race, Kriechmayr, 2021 world champion, beat two Germans, Romed Baumann by nine hundredths of a second and Andreas Sander by thirteen hundredths.

Kriechmayr won his fourth downhill of the winter, the other six were won by Kilde.

World champion of the specialty, the Swiss Marco Odermatt missed with a 15th place only.

With 16 additional points, he reached 1,842 points in the overall standings. He has two races left (a super-G on Thursday and a giant on Saturday) to break the men's points record set 23 years ago by Austria's Hermann Maier (2,000 points).

For this, Odermatt needs to score two second places or at least one win and one third place, which he is capable of in his two strong disciplines.

Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr won the men's downhill at the Alpine Ski World Cup Finals on March 15, 2023 in Soldeu (Andorra) © Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP

Clarey's farewell

American Mikaela Shiffrin, the new record holder of victories on the world circuit (87), skipped the downhill on Wednesday. Already assured of winning the general classification, she should compete in the last three races of the season this week (super-G Thursday, slalom Saturday, giant Sunday).

Without her, Ilka Stuhec managed a perfect passage to dominate her competitors by a wide margin, pushing Goggia to 51 hundredths of a second and Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami to 81 hundredths.

Double world champion of the specialty (2017 and 2019), Stuhec has returned to the highest level this season after a long crossing of the desert, punctuated by several injuries. The 32-year-old Slovenian won her second victory of the winter in Andorra.

Wednesday's downhill was marked by the farewell to the circuit of American Travis Ganong (34) and Frenchman Johan Clarey.

The 42-year-old Clarey, Olympic runner-up in the specialty, finished 12th in his 240th and final World Cup start, after virtually leading the race at the halfway point.

The late-performing Frenchman pushed all age limits, becoming the oldest world medallist, the oldest Olympic medallist and the oldest skier to reach a World Cup podium. He finished second again in the mythical downhill of Kitzbühel (Austria) in January.

Laura Gauché took 9th place in the women's downhill. Nils Allègre finished 19th, Adrien Théaux 23rd and Alexis Pinturault 24th in the men's race.

© 2023 AFP