Cuche oh so close

Daron Rhalves became the first American to win the coveted Kitzbühel World Cup downhill, leaving the Austrian home team empty-handed for the first time in five years.

Rahlves clocked one minute 9.63 seconds on a Streif course shortened from 3.3 kilometres to two kilometres because of fog which repeatedly delayed the start of the race down the Hahnenkamm mountain.

Switzerland's Didier Cuche was second in 1:09.68 and Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt finished third with 1:09.71 in a tight race.

Austria's defending Hahnenkamm champion Stephan Eberharter, a favourite to make it two in a row here after winning five of the previous eight downhills this season, had to settle for fourth place - just 0.09 seconds off Rahlves's pace.

The Austrians have long dominated the Hahnenkamm race and Rahlves was delighted to be the first American to win here since Bud Werner in 1959 - before the World Cup was set up in 1967.

Rahlves said: 'It is incredible. I am still trying to soak it up right now. I always felt like it was my destiny but you have also got to be lucky.'

The 29-year-old former jet-ski world champion from Truckee, California, threw himself down the Streif with reckless abandon that almost sent him flying off-course. He likes the challenging course and placed third here in the downhill two years ago.

Rahlves has now clinched four World Cup victories and will be looking to make it one more on Monday when as reigning world champion he contests the super-G here - put back from Friday because of heavy snow.

Former Olympic and World Cup champion Hermann Maier placed joint-sixth. Austrian-born Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was among the spectators cheering him on.

Maier said: 'I'm not dissatisfied with the result but with it being Kitzbühel I would have liked to be up there on the podium. It was difficult to build up the aggression and to find my rhythm on such a shortened course, it all just flew past.'