Switzerland's Cuche wins downhill title

LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland, March 16 (UPI) -- Swiss veteran Didier Cuche won the season title in the men's downhill Wednesday at the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in Switzerland.

The title was the fourth of Cuche's career and moved him into second place in the number of career titles behind Austrian legend Franz Klammer.

Cuche finished the downhill season with 510 points. Austria took the next two spots. Michael Walchhofer finished with 498 points and Klaus Kroell with 411.

Cuche took fourth place in the race itself with a time of 1 minute, 22.94 seconds. Adrien Theaux of France placed second just 1 1/00th of a second behind. Aksel Lund Svindal was third with a time of 1:23.10.

Ted Ligety, who leads in the giant slalom standings, was the top American finisher Wednesday in 19th place.

Ligety said afterward that the flat lighting on the course made it a tougher race for Cuche and the other later starters. "He would have been two seconds faster if he ran earlier in the sunshine, for sure," Ligety said.