The hits just keep on coming for the men of the Norwegian Ski Team. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde took his second career World Cup win on Saturday, claiming the victory in the super G in Hinterstoder, Austria, with a total time of 1:29.89 seconds. Second place went to Slovenian Bostjan Kline, 0.24 seconds back for his second career World Cup podium appearance. Austrian star Marcel Hirscher took third place, 0.35 seconds back and widened his lead in the overall standings.

Sunny skies and injected snow was the name of the game on the technical Hinterstoder track, with high speeds and sweeping turns a plenty making for exciting action. Kline, running bib five, laid down a smooth and mistake-free run and sat comfortably in the leader’s box until Kilde came down wearing bib 12. Visibly fast, although rough around the edges at times, Kilde looked to be barely hanging on through the technical middle section but managed to carry his speed onto the lower flats well enough to cross the line with the green light and claim another win to go with his Garmisch downhill victory.

“It’s been a really good season. I’m really happy with what I’ve done and it’s unbelievable, actually,” Kilde said. “Winning races is always fun, but this one I really wanted and I probably had a little bit of a better feeling today than in Garmisch. When it comes again, it’s a little bit easier to handle. That one in Garmisch came really, really quick on me but I’m really, really happy, don’t get me wrong!”

For Kline, his second career World Cup podium after also finishing immediately behind Kilde in the Garmisch downhill in January by a similar margin (0.22 seconds in Garmisch) was somewhat of a surprise for the Slovenian, but he made a point that he plans to not get too caught up in his recent success and will stick to his plan of gradually breaking through to the top of the World Cup.

“I felt pretty good. I was a bit scared and I had some anxiety before the start. But in the start I felt good, really ready for it and confident,” Kline explained. “On the course, it was nice to ski and I had grip on the ice so it was nice; and in the bottom part, you could really make the turns and enjoy the super G. I want to take small steps. I don’t want to get in front of myself or expect too much. I want to still stay patient and to work on being the best someday, to beat Kilde!”

Hirscher picked up an additional 60 points in the overall standings with his third place, widening his lead over Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen to 263 points heading into Sunday’s giant slalom. With Kristoffersen opting out of Saturday’s super G, the Norwegian is sure to be eager to claw some of those points back in the technical events.

“Most of the time, ski racing is not about fun, it’s about beeing fast, and this worked out pretty well for me today,” Hirscher said. “It’s a big surprise to earn 60 points in the super G, I think no one could predict that. My goal was a top 15, so to end up on the podium is really cool. With the experience, it’s getting easier in the speed disciplines. You get more confidence, you get the routine and the know-how, and that helps a lot.”

The American contingent was led by Steven Nyman in 18th place, with Andrew Weibrecht in 22nd and Tommy Biesemeyer in 28th rounding out the American scorers. Weibrecht was no doubt looking for more, although battling an illness left him exhausted for most of his run.

“You have to be fully confident in your line and where you’re going and I was a little too round,” Nyman explained in the finish. “Up top, you can really take it at the course and then it starts swinging and I was too round and then I started going straight where it started turning. I forgot what I was doing, but then the bottom was OK, I just need to execute a little better.”

Kilde’s win also makes him the de-facto leader in the super G standings with points leader Aksel Lund Svindal out for the season with a torn ACL. Kilde now trails Svindal by just 25 points with two races left. But if you ask him, he’s not making any predictions just yet.

“We’ll see, there are still two races to come and you have to ski well because there are really good skiers on the hill so you just have to fight for it now in the last two ones,” Kilde added. “It’s been way over my expectations. I hoped for a top three in super G and now I have two victories and a third place, so it’s crazy.”

The men are slated to race a second GS race on Sunday, with action scheduled to get underway at 9:30 a.m. CET.

The Scoop
By Hank McKee

1. Kilde, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Kline, Stoeckli/Head/
3. Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4. Kriechmayr, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5. Janka, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6. Theaux, Head/Head/Head
7. Schweiger, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8. Pinturault, Head/Head/Head
9. Jansrud, Head/Head/Head
10. Kosi, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

• Men’s World Cup super G, Hinterstoder, Austria, Feb. 27, 2016. … It is the 34^th of 45 races on the men’s schedule. … The sixth of eight scheduled super Gs. … It is the 16^th World Cup race at Hinterstoder and the second of three this season. … It is the third World Cup SG at Hinterstoder, the most recent won by Hannes Reichelt Feb. 2, 2011.
• It is the second career World Cup win for Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the first coming in DH Jan. 30 at Garmisch. … The winning margin is 0.24 of a second. … Top six finishers are within the same second. … Top 18 within two seconds.
• It is the second career World Cup podium for Bostjan Kline, the first coming in DH at Garmisch Jan. 30. … The last time a Slovene male podiumed in a World Cup super G was Ales Gorza at Bormio March 13, 2008.
• It is the 86^th career World Cup podium for Marcel Hirscher. … His third in super G.
• Steven Nyman matches his fifth best career World Cup super G placing. … It is the third best SG placing of the season for Andrew Weibrecht. … It is the eighth career World Cup scoring result for Thomas Biesemeyer. … And his third this season.
• Hirscher leads the World Cup overall standings 1285-1022 over Henrik Krisoffersen (did not race). … Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race) is third overall with 916pts.
• Svindal holds the lead of the super G standings 310-285 over Kilde. … Vincent Kriechmayr (fourth in race) is third in the standings at 218pts. … With two races remaining, six men could still win the discipline title.
• Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup standings 4422-4121 over France. … Norway is third at 3816. … The U.S. is seventh at 1728 and Canada tenth at 524pts.

Official Results