(Reuters) – Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was poised for victory in the classic Kitzbuehel World Cup downhill on Friday, leading France’s Johan Clarey by 0.42 seconds after the first 30 skiers had completed their runs.
Austria’s Matthias Mayer was positioned third, just ahead of overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt of Switzerland with the main contenders finished.
A win would be the 20-year-old Kilde’s sixth of the World Cup season and he will have a chance of another in Sunday’s second race – the final downhill before the Beijing Winter Games next month.
With a win Kilde will take over on top of the downhill World Cup standings, moving ahead of Italian Dominik Paris.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
