(Reuters) -France’s Cyprien Sarrazin proved as good as his word as he claimed a sensational double downhill victory at the iconic Hahnenkamm World Cup meeting on Saturday.
After becoming the first Frenchman to win the downhill in the Austrian resort since Luc Alphand in 1997 on Friday, he said had discovered the secret of the daunting piste.
He backed that up on Saturday by racing to his second win, this time edging out Swiss Marco Odermatt with Italian Dominik Paris finishing third.
While Friday’s margin of victory over Italy’s Florian Schieder was a slender 0.05 second, this time Sarrazin enjoyed a 0.91 second advantage with Paris more than a second slower.
The 29-year-old Sarrazin is now second in the overall World Cup standings behind Odermatt.
It is a remarkable turn of events for a ski racer whose career so far has been riddled with injuries and who until this season had never won a World Cup downhill. After winning in Bormio earlier this season he now has three.
So good was his run on Saturday down the 3.3km Streif course that some commentators described it as possibly the best ever.
Sarrazin celebrated by taking off his skis and jumping on to the hoardings in the finish area, roaring with delight.
“That really was ‘the’ run today,” Sarrazin said. “It was incredible, I enjoyed myself from top to bottom, I felt that there was speed. I cross the line, I turn my head and I see that there is green for first place.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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