Cuche captures downhill crystal globe in Kvitfjell

SWITZERLAND'S Didier Cuche captured the World Cup downhill crystal globe with victory at the penultimate race of the season in Kvitfjell.

PUMPED UP: Switzerland's Didier Cuche captures the World Cup downhill title with his fifth win of the season in Kvitfjell (Getty Images)

The 35-year old suffered a disappointing Winter Olympics last month, failing to medal for the third successive Games, but bounced back in style in Norway.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who scooped three medals in Vancouver, looked destined for a memorable homecoming when he took the lead with a time of 1:45.45 minutes.

But Cuche set out immediately after the Norwegian and shaved 0.47 seconds off his time to go top.

Svindal held on for silver  while Austria's Klaus Kroell scored his first podium finish of the season in third, finishing another 0.1 back.

Cuche's teammate Carlo Janka was his nearest rival in the downhill World Cup standings.

But the Swiss youngster, who struck Olympic giant slalom gold in Vancouver, could only manage sixth and is now 148 points behind his compatriot ahead of the final downhill at the World Cup finals in Garmisch-Partenkirchen next week.

Another Swiss skier, Didier Defago, beat Cuche to the Olympic title in Vancouver, but he too failed to match the veteran and slumped to 14th in Norway, 1:15 off the pace.

Meanwhile, Cuche's victory also opened up the race to the overall World Cup title with the Swiss now just 161 behind Austria's leader Benjamin Raich.

Raich, who prefers the technical slalom events to the downhill, failed to add to his total on Saturday after finishing 38th and has 1007 points, with Janka second on 937 and Cuche third on 846.