Bryce Bennett had never before been on the podium after an Alpine Ski World Cup race ©Getty Images

Bryce Bennett was a shock winner of the downhill race in Val Gardena, making a maiden appearance on the Alpine Ski World Cup podium and claiming the United States' first men's victory in the discipline for almost five years.

Bennett topped a new-look podium at the Italian resort, with runner-up Omar Streidinger and third-place finisher Niels Hintermann both making the top three for the first time this season.

The American completed a challenging downhill route in 2min 2.42sec, edging out Austria's Streidinger by 0.14sec.

Streidinger was the first man out of the gate and skiing early proved to be an advantage, with the top six all among the first 15 athletes to see the course.

Bennett went 10th, and moved into the lead right before the turn of pre-race favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who won yesterday's super-G contest.

Yet Norway's Kilde made a costly mistake on the Ciaslat section and ultimately missed a gate.

Bryce Bennett is a downhill specialist, and two of his previous four top-five finishes also came at Val Gardena ©Getty Images
Bryce Bennett is a downhill specialist, and two of his previous four top-five finishes also came at Val Gardena ©Getty Images

Home hope Dominick Paris also made an error there, and went from being ahead of Bennett's splits to having to settle for fourth place, 0.08sec shy of a podium place.

Switzerland's Beat Feuz completed the top five.

Bennett's win is he first for an American on the Alpine Ski World Cup tour for almost a year, after Ryan Cochran-Siegle won a super-G race in Bormio on December 29 last year.

Travis Ganong was the last American men's downhill winner, in Garmisch in January 2017.

Bennett, 29, had four previous top-five World Cup finishes - all in downhill races and two at this resort.