LOS ANGELES — Switzerland's Beat Feuz clinched back-to-back victories in the downhill race at Beaver Creek on Saturday to seal a second straight podium finish in the men's alpine World Cup season.

The 32-year-old former downhill world champion, winner at Beaver Creek in 2018, surged into the lead after a near-flawless run on the challenging Birds of Prey course in Colorado.

Feuz, ninth down the course, finished in 1min 12.98sec to take over the lead from Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr.

It marked the ninth World Cup downhill win of Feuz's career and 12th overall. The win came one week after Feuz clinched a third place finish at the opening downhill of the season at Lake Louise.

Elsewhere Saturday, 38-year-old Frenchman Johan Clarey was second quickest alongside Kriechmayr, both men clocking 1:13.39, 0.41sec off first place.

Austria's Hannes Reichelt was fourth fastest in 1:13.41.

Elsewhere, Germany's Thomas Dressen, winner at Lake Louise last week, finished in 18th place as he returned to the scene of his horror crash last year.

Dressen suffered torn knee ligaments and a dislocated shoulder after a high-speed crash at Beaver Creek in 2018, ending his season.

The German looked understandably conservative as he came down in 1:14.08, more than a second off the lead.

Austria's Matthias Mayer, 27th fastest on Saturday, remains the leader of the overall World Cup standings with 230 points, ahead of Kriechmayr (212pts) and Italy's Dominik Paris (206).

Feuz's win leaves him in fourth place overall with 192 points. — AFP