Italy's Werner Heel is pictured Dec. 7, 2013, in Beaver Creek, Colo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Julie Jacobson
January 15, 2014 - 6:44 AM
WENGEN, Switzerland - Werner Heel of Italy was fastest in a relatively slow first training run on Wednesday for a World Cup downhill.
One year after Frenchman Johan Clarey set a World Cup speed record of 161.9 kph (100.6 mph) here, Heel hit 148.4 kph (92 mph) through the Hanneggschuss straight.
Heel timed 2 minutes, 39.04 seconds on a 4.4-kilometre (2.7-mile) Lauberhorn course softened by fresh snowfalls.
Peter Fill of Italy was second, 0.30 back. Patrick Kueng of Switzerland trailed Heel by 0.45 in third.
Christof Innerhofer, the Italian defending champion, placed fourth, almost 10 seconds behind his 2013 winning time. Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was fifth.
Downhill standings leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was 10th.
Bode Miller of the United States, the Lauberhorn winner in 2007 and '08, was 15th.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014