Kitzbuehel downhill: Canada's Guay, Thomsen post top-8 training runs
Frenchman Theaux fastest in practice for prestigious race
French skier Adrien Theaux led the first training Tuesday for a men's World Cup downhill on the Streif course in Kitzbuehel, Austria, while Canada's Erik Guay finished seventh and Benjamin Thomsen was eighth.
Theaux timed 1 minute, 57.68 seconds on the 3.3-kilometre course, leading 2014 winner Hannes Reichelt of Austria by 0.21. Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Maxence Muzaton of France both trailed by 0.29 in third.
Guay finished 0.98 of a second off the pace, while Thomsen was 1.01 seconds behind.
Five other Canadians practised: Morgan Pridy finished 40th, Jeffrey Frisch was 43rd, Manny Osborne-Paradis was 48th, Broderick Thompson was 55th and Tyler Werry was 57th.
Kjetil Jansrud, who won the race on a shortened course last year, was 1.77 off the pace.
Max Franz of Austria was ruled out for the season after damaged his left ankle, knee and wrist in a crash.
Franz crashed on the icy and bumpy traverse before entering the final stretch of the course. The Austrian got up and skied down to the finish but a medical check in a clinic in Innsbruck revealed the seriousness of his injuries.
The Austrian ski federation said Franz underwent surgery later Tuesday on a torn syndesmosis and knee joint capsule. Franz was expected to need eight weeks for recovery, which would end his season.
Overall lead up for grabs
Svindal and Jansrud both won a race in Wengen, Switzerland, last weekend. Svindal leads four-time defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher by 15 points in the overall standings. The Austrian doesn't compete in downhills.
Theaux won the Dec. 29 downhill in Santa Caterina, Italy, and placed third Friday's combined event in Wengen. His best result in Kitzbuehel was third in the 2011 downhill.
Organizers moved forward the training by 45 minutes as fog was predicted for the early afternoon. A second practice session is scheduled for Thursday (CBCSports.ca, 5:30 a.m. ET), two days before Saturday's race (CBCSports.ca, 5:30 a.m. ET).
The traditional Hahnenkamm event will be opened by a super-G and a combined race on Friday (CBCSports.ca, 5:30 a.m. ET, 10:30 a.m. ET) and concluded by a slalom on Sunday (4:15 a.m. ET and 7:15 a.m ET).
With files from CBC Sports