On Wednesday evening, the bib numbers for the first of two downhill races of the 56th Saslong Classic were announced at the team captains' meeting in Selva/Wolkenstein.

Canadian Alexander Cameron will open the downhill on Thursday at 11:45 am. Like last year, the first Val Gardena/Gröden downhill will take place as a "sprint race" on a shortened course. The start house is from the super-G, located at 2,010 meters above sea level.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt will be the first racer from the short list of favorites. The overall World Cup winner, who finished on the podium last year as the runner-up in the shortened downhill in Val Gardena/Gröden, has the bib 6 on his chest. Immediately after the Swiss racer, local hero Florian Schieder will race down the track with the bib 7.

Top favorite and Saslong specialist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde will tackle the first downhill with bib 10. The Norwegian will be fighting for his sixth victory at the foot of the Sassolungo/Langkofel on Thursday. Behind Kilde, the Italian Mattia Casse (bib 11), the German Romed Baumann (bib 12), the powerhouse from Ulten Dominik Paris (bib 13), and the Canadian James Crawford (bib 14) are four more hot favorites in the battle for the day's victory.

"Defending champion" Vincent Kriechmayr from Austria, who won the shortened downhill last year, will be bib 15. It will also be interesting to see how Jared Goldberg, the fastest in training, performs. The US boy will be the 20th skier to leave the starting gate.

Sixty-four athletes from 14 nations will compete in the first of three speed events on the Saslong. The complete start list for the downhill can be found here.