Norwegian veteran Aksel Lund Svindal drew a line under his recent injury woes with a first World Cup victory in nearly two years in the men's downhill here Saturday.

The 35-year-old clinched the 33rd World Cup victory of his career after finishing on 1 min 40.46sec on the challenging course.

It was Svindal's first victory since January 2016 and the sixth of his career in all disciplines at Beaver Creek.

The win also provided further evidence of a return to form after Svindal missed most of last season with a knee injury.

"I am very happy with the win," Svindal said. "I haven't won a race for almost two years -- it was nice to feel the excitement to be in the winner box."

Switzerland's Beat Feuz finished in second with a time of 1:40.61 while Germany's Thomas Dressen was third with 1:40.95.

Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr, who had clinched victory on the demanding "Birds of Prey" course in the super-G on Friday, finished sixth in 1:41.17.

The overall leader in the World Cup standings, Norway's Kjetil Jansrud could only finish 11th following a second place finish on Friday. Jansrud clocked 1:41.51, more than a minute behind Svindal.

Jansrud retains his place in the overall rankings however.

The Beaver Creek stage concludes on Sunday with a giant slalom.

source: AFP