The Laurberhorn course at Wengen, Switzerland is the longest downhill run on the World Cup tour. Perhaps that's why Stephan Eberharter won by such a wide margin.

The Austrian star took his fifth downhill victory of the season in a time of 2:28.78, more than a full second ahead of Daron Rahlves of the U.S., who came in at 2:29.89. Bruno Kernen of the host country came in third.

Eberharter's win vaulted him back into first place in the overall Cup points race, ahead of Bode Miller. Miller finished 6th in today's race in 2:29.36. Eberharter now has a total of 755 points, while Miller has 730.

For Rahlves, the day was a significant success. It is his fourth podium of the year, and the American has now moved into second place in the cup downhill points discipline, and has broken into the top 10 in the overall standings. Rahlves has 354 total points and sits 9th.

The comeback of Hermann Maier continued as well. Competing in his first downhill since his motorcycle injury a year and a half ago, Maier finished well back in 22nd place. Nevertheless, his ability to step back in to racing after such a long layoff and be competitive is remarkable.

Marco Sullivan and Jake Fiala were 14th and 19th respectively, giving the U.S. team another pretty strong showing in a World Cup downhill. The team's depth has been impressive thus far this season.

The competitors will take another crack at the Lauberhorn course tomorrow in downhill II before completing the weekend Sunday with a slalom and a combined calculation.

— MountainZone.com staff