French racer Tessa Worley won her first World Cup race in more than a year today (Jan. 20) in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, taking the fourth giant slalom of the season by more than half a second.

Worley stood second, 0.29 seconds behind Austrian Elisabeth Goergl, after the first run. Worley ripped into the second run, charging down the steep Podkoren course with the fastest second run time to top second place finisher, Italian Federica Brignone by 0.58 seconds in combined time. Giant slalom overall leader, German Viktoria Rebensburg grabbed her third podium of the season in third, 0.89 seconds off the winning pace.

“It was a tough second run but I’m happy I finished in front and on the top of the podium,” said Worley, who hadn’t finished a race better than 20th since late December. “I’m very happy to start really skiing this year and now we have a few GS [races] left and I can’t wait.”

The win marks Worley’s sixth career World Cup victory and earned her the Golden Fox trophy. 

Goergl, the last racer down the course, was looking to challenge Worley’s time when she was pushed too far back in a turn on the last steep section of the course and fell. 

This weekend’s races were moved from snowless Maribor to Kanjska Gora, a regular stop on the men’s tour but last visited by the women in 2007, and 1991 before that.

Skies were overcast for the morning first run but cleared for the afternoon, though all but the finish area was in the shade.

Standing fifth after the first run, American Lindsey Vonn, who won the first GS of her career at the season opener at Soelden, Austrian in October, put together a strong second run and held the lead through most of the course but lost her balance for just a moment on the on the last steep pitch, dropping her hands to the snow and losing a precious fraction of a second to finish fourth. It was her fifth career top-five finish in a World Cup GS.

“Everybody had mistakes today, it was a really tough course. It was icy and bumpy and hard to stay with it,” said U.S. head coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “Lindsey had an OK first run, but she was really charging in the second run. We thought she was going to take the lead, but then she slipped a few gates from the finish and actually had to put both hands on the snow to save it. Without that, she might have been in it for another GS win.”

Local favorite Tina Maze stood ninth after the first run but fed off of the noisy crowd to rip into the second run and finish fifth, screaming into the TV camera with satisfaction.

American Julia Mancuso, 2006 Olympic GS gold medalist, stood 22nd after the first run, and looked slightly more comfortable on the foreign course to finish 19th. “Julia was fighting pretty hard today, but was having trouble releasing her ski,” said Hoedlmoser. “It was almost like her edges were too sharp and they kept locking up on the ice.”

Vonn and Mancuso were the only Americans to reach the 30-woman second run. Resi Stiegler finished the first run in 47th and Megan McJames took 52th.

With 934 points, Vonn holds a commanding lead in the overall rankings. Maze stands second 296 points behind in second.

Marie-Michele Gagnon led the Canadian effort in 22nd. Marie-Pier Prefontaine didn’t qualify for a second run and Madison Irwin fell in the first run.

The women will race again in Kranjska Gora tomorrow with a slalom.

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Women's World Cup GS, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Jan. 21, 2012
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Worley, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Brignone, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
3 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
4 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
5 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
6 Hoefl-Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
7 Marmottan, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
9 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Poutiainen, Fischer//Fischer

Women's World Cup GS Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Jan. 21, 2012. ... It is the 16th race of the women's 40 race 2012 World Cup season with one cancellation (city event Munich). ... It is the fifth of nine scheduled giant slaloms, the fourth held. ... The race was originally scheduled at Maribor and moved for lack of snow. ... It is the 72nd Cup race at Kranjska Gora. ... the 36th GS. ... Last women's race was in 2007 season.

It is the sixth career World Cup win for Tessa Worley, all in GS. ... Her last win was Dec. 12, 2010 at St Moritz. ... It is her second podium of the season having placed third in GS at Lienz Dec. 28.

It is the fourth career World Cup podium result for Federica Brignone, all in GS. ... She has been second three times without a win. ... It is her second podium of the season having also finished second at Lienz Dec. 28.

It is the eighth career World Cup podium for Viktoria Rebensburg, all in GS. ... She had never finished third in a Cup race previously. ... It is her third podium of the season having won at Aspen Nov. 26 and been second at Soelden Oct. 22.

North Americans: It is the third best career World Cup GS result for Lindsey Vonn. ... her second best of the season having won the opener at Soelden. ... It is her ninth top four of the season. ... It is the 39th career best Cup GS result for Julia Mancuso and her 12th score of the season. ... It is the fourth best result of the season for Marie-Michele Gagnon of six scoring finishes.

Standings: Vonn extends her lead of the World Cup overall standings 934-638 over Tina Maze (fifth in race). ... Marlies Schild (23rd in race) is third with 548pts. ... Mancuso is eighth with 413pts. ... Gagnon leads Canada in 42nd with 91pts. ... Rebensburg leads the GS standings 290-222 over Anna Fenninger (eighth in race). ... Vonn is third with 217pts. ... Mancuso seventh with 112pts. ... Gagnon 34th with 15pts. ... Austria leads the women's Nations Cup 2821-1780 over the US. ... Germany is third with 1354. ... Canada is 11th with 196pts.

Image by Gepa