(Reuters) - Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr claimed his first World Cup victory by winning the Super G race over the Birds of Prey course in Colorado on Friday.
The 26-year-old posted a time of one minute, 9.71 seconds to finish ahead of Norway's Kjetil Jansrud at Beaver Creek. His previous best World Cup performances were a pair of runner-up finishes in the 2015-16 season.
Jansrud, last season's globe winner who won the first Super G of the season at Lake Louise last week, finished 0.23 seconds adrift.
Kriechmayr's team mate Hannes Reichelt took the third podium spot in 1:10:04. Three of Reichelt's six career World Cup wins in Super G have been at Beaver Creek and the Austrian also became a world champion on the Birds of Prey course in 2015. Saturday's competition will feature the men's downhill with Jansrud expected to be one of the favourites.
A giant slalom will close out the Beaver Creek programme on Sunday.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
