Odermatt was back on the slopes after having missed the giant slalom in Schladming last week due to a troublesome left knee.

The season has been so far been mostly a duel between the Swiss and the Norwegian, and the race down the famous Olympia delle Tofane track was no exception.

Odermatt, the reigning World Cup champion and current leader, finished 0.35 seconds ahead of Kilde, with Italian Mattia Casse (32), grabbing third place, 0.49 seconds behind Odermatt.

"I really didn’t expect it like that. I wasn’t sure how much I could go to the limit today and as well while racing (I) didn’t feel like going to the limit actually. I just tried to ski clean and gain confidence gate by gate and it worked," Odermatt said.

Odermatt now has 1,286 points in the World Cup standings, 213 points ahead of Kilde before Sunday's second Cortina D'Ampezzo super-G race.