Fifty-two weeks after his first World Cup victory on the same course, Frenchman Antoine Deneriaz overpowered the field Saturday to win a World Cup downhill by nearly a second ahead of five Austrians. Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) tied for seventh while rookie Bryon Friedman (Park City, UT) grabbed his first top-20, finishing 19th.

Deneriaz - whose first win came Dec. 21, 20002 in Val Gardena (and his second last March in Kvitfjell, Norway) - finished in 1:52.99 with Michael Walchhofer runnerup in 1:53.88. World Cup leader Hermann Maier was fifth. Rahlves tied Austrian Klaus Kroell for seventh in 1:54.27 and Friedman, in his first season on the tour fulltime, finished 19th in 1:55.26 with Jake Fiala (Frisco, CO) tied for 31st and Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) 52nd.

Rahlves, first in the opening training run Wednesday and fourth Thursday, tied Austrian Klaus Kroell for seventh in 1:54.27. Friedman, who was fourth and second in his two training runs, is in his first season on the tour fulltime; he finished 19th in 1:55.26. Jake Fiala (Frisco, CO) tied for 31st and Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) was 52nd.

"Daron was clearly podium-bound," Head Coach Phil McNichol said. "He came through Ciaslat [SHAZ-lott, the mid-section] second and he was flying! And then he just made a mistake, went wide, and finished seventh, but he's clearly skiing well. His skis are going fast and he's challenging for the podium all the time.

"And Friedman had another great day, too. First time in the top 20. he handled himself fantastically all week - second in training one day, fourth another. Race Day is Race Day, though, and everybody's going - and Bryon skied solidly with the best."

Rahlves was pleased with a fourth and a seventh because he and Val Gardena have not been on the best of terms, although he was 11th in the DH a year ago.

"I had a good race going, made a couple of mistakes and - poof! - it's gone," he said. "I stuck to my plan but I was carrying more speed than I thought," and he went wide at one point, and another small miscue cost him the podium.

Friedman, a senior at Dartmouth College who is coming back from bone spur surgery on his right ankle last spring, started slowly but has been gathering steam. He had back-to-back-to-back top-25s before breaking into the top 20 Saturday and said he's feeling more comfortable with every World Cup race.

"Everything is piecing togetherÉpiece by piece. I'm getting it done," he said, conceding he was "a little nervous" before the race. Delays caused by a couple of crashes kept in the start house a half-hour or so longer than expected, but he attacked from the start.

"I was tense today. It wasn't just today but after the second training run, it was 'Wow - this is the real deal' but I felt I could do really well here." At the same time, he said he was having trouble sleeping because his roommate - and fellow Dartmouth student - Scott Macartney (Redmond, WA) injured his left Thursday and was knocked out of the race; he was to fly home Sunday for examination.

— Courtesy of US Ski Team