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Big names falter Fattori leads Italian clean sweep of men's downhill
VAL D'ISERE, France (AP) -- Alessandro Fattori led an Italian clean sweep of the top three places in the men's World Cup downhill on Saturday, taking his first ever victory in a World Cup event. The result was a major upset, as big name skiers like Hermann the "Herminator" Maier finished outside the top ten in Val d'Isere, and his hotly favored Austrian team failed to clinch a place on the podium. Fattori covered the sun-drenched Oreiller Killy course in a time of 1 minute, 52.25 seconds. He was followed by teammates Kristian Ghedina in 1:52.57, and third-placed Roland Fischnaller in 1:52.66. Before Saturday, Fattori's best finish in the downhill this season had come at Val d'Isere last weekend, where he placed 20th. The event was run a second time in the French Alpine resort because of lack of snow in Val Gardena, Italy. Fattori, 27, called it an "impossible victory." "When I was at the start, I knew that Ghedina was quick, and I thought the course was getting slower, so I knew I had to attack," Fattori said. "It's a long time, but it's better late than never," he said of his eight-year wait for a title since starting in the World Cup. "It's the best day in my life." "I had good materials, good wax, good skis, this is the secret of today... But I have to say thank you to me, as I ski very well," Fattori added. The race marked a comeback for teammate Ghedina, who placed 34th in Val d'Isere last weekend in his first downhill race of the season. Ghedina, who was fourth in the overall standings last season, injured two vertebras in Chile during summer training while fooling around doing aerial somersaults off a jump. The Italian was first-placed for much of the race, until Fattori, running in 25th position, shaved .32 seconds off his time. "I'm very happy for [Fattori] ... maybe not so much for me," Ghedina said after witnessing Fattori's faster time. "It was a piste of surprises," he said. Fischnaller, who ran in 47th position, caused a late upset by knocking Switzerland's Bruno Kernen off the podium to take third place. Austrian ski legend Hermann Maier failed to make it three wins in a row in the downhill, after tying for 16th with teammate Josef Strobl, in a time of 1:53.89. The result was a big surprise, as Maier led an Austrian sweep of the top four places in the downhill last weekend. But Saturday wasn't the first time this season that Maier failed to come up with the goods. He placed fifteenth in the season-opening downhill in Lake Louise, Canada. The best-placed member of the highly favored Austrian squad was Werner Franz, who came in fifth. Countryman Stephan Eberharter, who won in Lake Louise and finished second in Val d'Isere last weekend, came in 38th on Saturday. Norwegian Lasse Kjus was another big name to have a disappointing race. Kjus, a two-time world champion, finished 41st. Temperatures were low on the Oreiller Killy course, which was shortened after strong winds on Friday prevented workers from preparing the top section. As a result, the race drop was reduced from 1,014 meters (3,346.2 feet) to 855 meters (2,821.5 feet), while the course was only 3,090 meters (10,197 feet) long, compared to the full length of 3,680 meters (12,144 feet).
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