With his triumph in the downhill - his second victory within 24 hours - Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finally crowned himself the superstar of the 53rd Saslong Classic. The voices of the protagonists.

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR/1st place)
"I lost a little on the Ciaslat, otherwise my run was very good from top to bottom. It's a great feeling to follow in Aksel Lund Svindal's footsteps with this double victory. He has always been a big idol for me and taught me a lot, so my successes are partly thanks to him. We Norwegians work together with the Americans a lot - you can see the results of this cooperation now here on the Saslong. I also want to thank the organizers who have organized another special prize, the DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy - these special trophies and also the whole surrounding make Val Gardena/Gröden a unique World Cup venue."

Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA/2nd place)
"My run was very decent and mostly flawless. I got off to a good start and executed well on my plan. The slope and conditions in Val Gardena/Gröden are always top notch and suit us Americans and Norwegians very well. We Americans have a very good relationship with our Scandinavian friends, also today Kilde & team shared their impressions of the course with us and that helped a lot. Hopefully this partnership will continue for a long time. The next race is already waiting for me in Alta Badia tomorrow - I will be on full attack mode again."

Beat Feuz (SUI/3rd place)
"I didn't have a particularly good feeling during my run, so I can't really explain third place. I was skiing better than in training, but I didn't think I could leave so many competitors behind me. I see the result as an early Christmas present, because I would have been ok with a 13th place. Looks like you are always ahead here if you happen to be from Norway or the US." (laughs)

Bryce Bennett (USA/4th place)
Yes, first off. I’m so pumped for Ryan. He worked super hard and is one of my best friends on the team. I couldn’t be more excited for him. He is just really good at skiing. That’s a fact. I’m also psyched for Goldberg who had a great day. And it’s kind of what we needed as a team. As for me, one of these days it will happen. Im feeling definitely better skiing, more comfortable and now it’s on to Bormio. For some reason Norway and US as well as Beat Feuz go really fast here in Val Gardena/Groeden. We grow up free skiing, jumping off cliffs and hitting jumps so the course is well suited to our style of skiing. And it’s such a fun course. No matter how you are doing, you’ll always be smiling at the finish. For me, the hard part of the course is the easiest part and I just had a little bobble in the first compression before the looping and then I lost some time that I couldn’t get back anymore. Hopefully one of these days I will nail that turn and get faster.

Dominik Paris (ITA/12th place)
"I have always had difficulties in Val Gardena/Gröden, although I find it hard to explain why. Of course I'm disappointed because I had clearly planned for a better result. The start was already not flawless, then I sprinkled in a few more mistakes - so the result is 15th place. We have to work on ourselves so that in the coming years we can also get to where the Norwegians and US Americans already are."

Christof Innerhofer (ITA/28th place)
"The 28th place is not what I wanted. Now it's a matter of staying calm, thinking positively and looking ahead. The course in Bormio suits me much more and I want to achieve much better results there. After all, I don't think that I don’t have what it takes to finish in the top 15 anymore."