VAL GARDENA, Italy -- Marco Odermatt found moments of clarity on a foggy day in the Italian Dolomites to race to victory in a World Cup downhill Thursday.
With the victory, Odermatt reached 50 World Cup wins at age 28, tying Alberto Tomba for fourth on the all-time men's list. It also came 50 days before the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Olympics.
"It's a crazy number," Odermatt said. "I had an incredible season start with a fifth victory already, but I'm not a guy who looks too far ahead."
Odermatt rode the bumps and rolls on a shortened version of the Saslong course to finish 0.15 seconds faster than Franjo von Allmen, the reigning world champion. Italian veteran Dominik Paris was third, trailing by 0.19.
Sunshine lit the bottom half of the course where Odermatt, wearing bib No. 14, was decisively fast to win a race that started 75 minutes late because of fog shrouding the top of the course.
There was a short delay for fog minutes after No. 6 starter Von Allmen set the fastest time and touched 80 mph then a longer stoppage once the top-ranked racers completed their runs.
The race was interrupted again when No. 45 starter Fredrik Moeller had to be airlifted from the course after crashing hard on his back while setting a fast time that matched Odermatt.
Minutes later, using the improving light, No. 47 starter Nils Alphand threatened a shock by leading at halfway. He placed fifth, just 0.27 back.
The win extended Odermatt's already big lead in the overall standings as he chases a fifth straight title. He also won the season-opening downhill two weeks ago at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
A 1-2 result for Switzerland's top speed racers is routine in World Cup downhills. Odermatt twice won last season with Von Allmen as runner-up, including at Val Gardena, and Odermatt was second in each of Von Allmen's two World Cup wins.
Ingemar Stenmark, the Swedish slalom and giant slalom great from the 1970s and '80s, leads the men with 86 wins. The wins record was extended to 105 by Mikaela Shiffrin winning a slalom Tuesday at Courchevel, France.
Thursday's race replaced a downhill canceled by the weather this month at Beaver Creek. Val Gardena stages a super-G on Friday then the classic Saslong race Saturday over the full downhill distance.