Garmisch, sweet Garmisch

"That was truly brutal today," said Maier. "I haven't been challenged by a course like that in a long, long time. I was constantly at my limit. I was already tired by the second interval (midway point). It was unbelievable."

Klaus Kroell finished in 1:57.83 with Andreas Buder completing the podium in 1:57.84 in front of a record crowd of 12,000 at the southern German resort.

Kroell and Buder are battling for the fourth and final spot on Austria's downhill team behind Maier, World Cup downhill leader Michael Walchhofer and Fritz Strobl.

Maier, who won a super-G last weekend in Kitzbuehel, did not shy away from any gambles so close to the Turin Olympics and managed to stay upright despite his hard-charging style down the icy and bump-filled piste that knocked several rivals out.

"It was a very tough run today," said Maier, 33, after his aggressive race down the 3,455-metre course with its 960-metre vertical drop. "The course was very bumpy. It was an adventure run for me."

He jammed his thumb while leaning hard into a curve in the high-speed first section, hitting the snow before bouncing up.

"My hand got caught in the snow at the third gate," said Maier, who won his first World Cup race here in 1997. "It's been a long time since my hand hit the snow like that. I guess that shows I was really attacking."

The Austrian collapsed in exhaustion shortly after crossing the finish line on a bright but chilly afternoon and spent several moments crumpled up front of the safety mats in front of the cheering crowd trying to catch his breath.

"I just took a little break there after a hard day's work," Maier said when asked about his unorthodox post-race behaviour after he hit speeds above 130 kph and averaged 106 kph.

Maier, four times overall World Cup champion, won the classic downhill in Garmisch in 2000, three years after his first victory here in a super-G. He now has a total of five downhill and super-G wins in Garmisch.

"The Kandahar is definitely something special for me," said Maier, who will be a favourite for Sunday's Super-G. "I've had a lot of good fortune here. It's where I won my first World Cup race. The memories of Garmisch are mostly good memories."

It was his 199th World Cup race -- of which he has not only now won 53 but also finished on the podium 92 times. It was also Maier's third World Cup victory in three different disciplines this season. He grabbed the season-opening men's giant slalom in Soelden, Austria on October 23 before last week's super-G victory before another home crowd in Kitzbuehel.

World Cup downhill leader Walchhofer and Strobl, who is second this season in the sport's glamour event, were less aggressive on Saturday and finished far back in a 10th place tie at 1:58.54.

American Daron Rahlves, who is third this season, also appeared to be taking a cautious approach so close to the Olympics. He finished 14th in 1:58.84.

His teammate Bode Miller, fifth in downhill, skipped this weekend's races to prepare for Turin. Before Saturday, Miller, who will enter all five events, had not missed a World Cup race in four seasons and had 135 consecutive starts behind him.