Franz tops racers at Lake Louise
LAKE LOUISE, Alta. — Max Franz of Austria was the first racer on the course and his blistering time held up Saturday in the season-opening World Cup downhill.
Franz finished in 1 minute, 46.18 seconds to hold off Christof Innerhofer of Italy by 0.28 seconds. Italy’s Dominik Paris was third, 0.54 seconds back. It was the second career World Cup win for the 29-year-old Franz.
Facing headwinds the early starters did not, Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., was the top Canadian in 15th for his career-best result at Lake Louise. Thomsen said: “I know the conditions I was dealing with and this is definitely not my course. I’m still kind of blown away.” Toronto’s James Crawford, North Vancouver’s Brodie Seger, Calgary’s Jeff Read and Vancouver’s Sam Mulligan, finished 44th, 56th, 65th and 66th, respectively.