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| - Reigning overall World Cup champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde powered to his first win of the season on Friday with super-G victory in Val Gardena. The Norwegian edged out Switzerland's Mauro Caviezel by 0.12 seconds, with veteran Kjetil Jansrud completing the podium. Marco Odermatt finished ninth to move above Alexis Pinturault at the top of the overall standings, with the Frenchman skipping this race. Kilde, wearing bib 13, snatched victory from Caviezel -- who was bidding for a second straight super-G triumph after winning in Val d'Isere last week -- with a brilliant run. "It's small margins all the way, if you hit the run 100 percent, like I did today, then the time is fast and you can take home the victory," said Kilde at the post-race press conference. The 28-year-old speed specialist took advantage of good weather conditions to claim a fifth World Cup success as he bounced back from a disappointing weekend in France, where he finished 12th in the super-G and fourth in a downhill. "It was so close. That's super-G," said Caviezel, who was skiing with a broken index finger. It was the 11th victory by a Norwegian in a downhill or super-G on the Saslong course since 2009. "We look at ourselves as all-round skiers. This hill is a package of everything, long jumps, long turns, good snow and we Norwegians like that, we like when it's technical," said Kilde. "We feel at home: good food, good hotel." Jansrud was 0.21 seconds slower in making it two Norwegians in the top three. "It's kind of a love story," he said of the Norwegian success at Val Gardena. The 35-year-old now has seven super-G podium finishes at Val Gardena since 2011. "I think this hill suits us Norwegians well, lots of terrain. Lots of flow motion, you need to have a broad technical base," said Jansrud. Odermatt collected 29 points to take the overall lead in the standings ahead of the absent Pinturault. Kilde, the surprise winner of the overall globe last season, climbed to third. Jansrud lamented the absence of fans. "It's more fun when there are people cheering, naturally," he said. "In the autumn we never knew if there were going to be races at all due to the Covid situation and all of those sitting here now are super thankful that we get to ski." alu/clv/jc-pb
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