Kline was beaten only by the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. Beat Feuz of Switzerland was third.

Slovenia had a second competitor in the top ten, as Andrej Šporn finished 7th for his first points this season.

Kline, the former youth downhill champion, had bib number 3 but remained in the lead until Kilde crossed the finishing line with number 30.

His career highlight comes after he left out the entire 2013/2014 season due to a serious injury.

Kline appeared surprised by his performance. "I didn't do anything special, I can't say the course is very much to my liking either. I just focused on the skiing and on myself."

He also acknowledged that the low starting number was an advantage. "But I never thought I could win second place."