Two days after announcing that he would retire at the end of the season, the 37-year-old Swiss crowned his career in style, clocking one minute 13.28 seconds on a course shortened because of bad weather.

The falling snow and poor visibility hardly troubled Cuche, who knows the Streif piste like the palm of his hand.

He was fastest on the technical intermediate section to beat two Austrians on their home snow. Romed Baumann was second, 0.24 seconds behind, while Klaus Kroell was third, a further 0.06 adrift.

Cuche had shared the previous record of four downhill victories on the Streif with Austria's Franz Klammer, who was watching as the Swiss eclipsed him.

Cuche, who also became the oldest winner of a World Cup race, has won in Kitzbuehel in a variety of ways.

His first victory, in 1998, was over two runs as the weather conditions again forced organizers to shorten the course.

The next three, in 2008, 2010 and 2011, were won on a full-length piste.

With six wins in the Austrian resort — he also won a super-G two years ago — Cuche has collected nearly a third of his 19 World Cup successes in Kitzbuehel.