Fill wins downhill opener but disappointment for Mickel

ITALY'S Peter Fill won the opening downhill of the World Cup season at Lake Louise.

Swiss giant slalom specialist Carlo Janka, starting way back in the field, finished a surprising second but Britain's Finley Mickel was well over two seconds slower than Fill in a distant 43rd place.

American Bode Miller, who dominated the first two training runs, had been the favorite but finished well off the pace in 16th.

This was Fill's eighth visit to a World Cup podium but his first ever victory.

"Conditions probably helped me but I was feeling pretty good in any case," he said. "However, I don't really like this piste. I like much more technical courses but the visibility was so good when I went down that it definitely helped."

Huntly's Andrew Musgrave finished 82nd in his World Cup cross country debut, the 15km classic event in Kuusamo, Finland.

18-year old Musgrave, ranked ninth in the world in his age group, was just under five minutes slower than winner, Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby.

Musgrave has been producing some impressive performances at junior level in recent weeks and has long been tipped for a bright future by British Nordic head coach Roy Young.

And to underline the point, the Scot was three years the junior of the next youngest person in the 86-man field in Finland.