Slovenian Jerman wins men's World Cup downhill

BORMIO, Italy — Slovenia's Andrej Jerman won the men's World Cup downhill here on Tuesday, his second victory on the international ski circuit.

Jerman, who had dominated training, finished the course in 2min 00:32sec, 0.53sec ahead of Switzerland's Didier Defago, with Austria's reigning World Cup champion in the discipline, Michael Walchhofer, in third at 1:03sec.

The Slovenian benefited from excellent early light conditions to produce a near flawless display down the gruelling 3.2km-long course that featured several spectacular jumps.

Mario Scheiber had set the early running before eventually slotting into second spot behind Jerman. But the Austrian was later disqualified after his boots were ruled to be fitted too high on his skis' bindings.

Switzerland's Carlo Janka finished in 11th spot, enough to see him leapfrog the absent Benjamin Raich atop the overall World Cup standings on 577 points.

Raich remains on 565 pts, with Janka's compatriot Didier Cuche in third on 481 after his fifth-placed finish here.

Cuche, however, remains in control of the downhill standings on 251 points from the four events this season, with Walchhofer on 200 and Janka in third on 184.