Austrian Eberharter stretches lead
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Eberharter in full flight on his way to another downhill success
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GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (Reuters) -- Stephan Eberharter extended his lead in the men's downhill World Cup standings with a narrow victory on Saturday.
The Austrian tamed the Kandahar piste in one minute 58.70 seconds for his third downhill win of the season in Bavarian Alps resort Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Fellow Austrian Fritz Strobl, the Olympic downhill champion, was second nine hundredths of a second back in 1:58.79 with Italian Alessandro Fattori third in 1:59.15.
Austrian Benjamin Raich, who is chiefly a technical racer and did not compete on Saturday, retained the overall World Cup lead.
The 34-year-old Eberharter became the oldest winner in World Cup history when he stormed to victory in Kitzbuehel last week.
But he had to be content with third place in the first of two downhills here on Friday, won by Swiss Didier Cuche.
The overall, downhill and super-G World Cup champion, who loves Garmisch-Partenkirchen where he won a downhill last year and a super-G the year before, has another chance to shine in Sunday's super-G which completes the weekend programme