The American Bryce Bennett has caused a big surprise in the downhill on the Saslong claiming his first World Cup victory. We have captured the voices of the racers.

Bryce Bennett (USA/1st place)
"I've never been on the podium in my career and now I'm winning here in Val Gardena/Gröden - that's incredible! The level was already enormously high from the first training run, so it is even more impressive that I was able to keep up with all the world-class athletes. I simply feel comfortable in Val Gardena/Gröden and like everything about the course from the many jumps to the Ciaslat. I had a clear plan for the downhill and went to the start with a relaxed mind. My expectations for the race were not high at all - that makes the victory even more beautiful."

Otmar Striedinger (AUT/2nd place)
"I'm going home with mixed feelings, as I've now narrowly missed my first World Cup victory for the umpteenth time. I will find the missing 14/100 right away when analyzing my run - but mistakes happen and are part of skiing. Overall, though, I'm very satisfied with my performance, so the joy about second place prevails."

Niels Hintermann (SUI/3rd place)
"When I looked at the scoreboard at the finish, I was actually not completely satisfied. I felt that my run wasn't bad - but there were still a few places that I didn't nail 100%. My race wasn’t completely clean, especially in the upper part, but then was ok through Ciaslat. Anyway, the result itself surprises me a bit, because at the beginning I expected a top ten result at most."

Dominik Paris (ITA/4th place)
"The result is very good in any case, even if more would have been possible today. I had some difficulties at the beginning of the season and then made improvements to the equipment in order to go back to skiing more fluidly again. Now everything fits better again and I'm back on track."

Beat Feuz (SUI/5th place)
"Despite the mistakes, I'm in fifth place - that's not bad. With regard to the small crystal globe, the points today are very valuable, also because I make up some points on Matthias Mayer. Val Gardena/Gröden is always a difficult terrain for me personally because the course here doesn't exactly suit me."