VAL GARDINA, Italy (AP) — It took a historic achievement and belated sunshine to deny Marco Odermatt another World Cup title.
In 60 seasons of alpine ski racing, no Czech man had won a World Cup race until the little-known Jan Zabystran began Friday’s super-G race wearing the lowly No. 29 bib number. Swiss superstar Odermatt sat in the lead box in the end area and looked likely to add to his victory in Thursday’s downhill.
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But Zabristan, who had only one top-10 finish in 56 previous World Cup starts, took advantage of the better light to shock the crowd by 0.22 seconds ahead of Odermatt.
“It’s a great day,” Zabristan said. “I saw the green light, it was crazy.”
He’s not the first surprise winner in Val Gardena, which lends itself to this quirk. On a course nestled in the pinnacles of the Dolomites, sunlight may arrive late to light the way for late starters. That sometimes flips the standings on its head – like it did on Friday.
Zabristan ran his fastest time on the sunny bottom of the course, but he also ran his fastest time at the top, suggesting his victory wasn’t all luck.
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Odermatt came into the race about 50 minutes earlier when he showed impressive aggression while skiing in lower light just before noon.
Third place Giovanni Franzoni also achieved a career-best result, 0.37 behind. The former world junior super-G champion held starting number 16 and was one of the first to get sunlight on the lower stages of the race, with only Zabristan faster.
Other lower-ranked racers who performed well included No. 43 starter Matthieu Bailet in fifth and Italian veteran Christof Innerhofer in sixth, just behind Zabrystan in No. 30.
Zabristan’s number is not the highest among Val Gardena’s recent winners. American downhill athlete Steven Nyman wore jersey No. 39 to win the 2012 Saslong Classic.
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The 27-year-old Czech’s previous best result at a World Cup was eighth in the super-G in Norway last year. He participated in the past two Winter Olympics and failed to complete 6 out of 9 events. His best result was 25th.
As a measure of how well Odermatt performed, he was the only one of the top 10 starters to have a top-10 grade.
Odermatt extended his huge lead in the overall World Cup standings as he chases a fifth consecutive title. After three races, he now also leads the season-long super-G standings.
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