Vonn edges out Maze for season's first Euorpean win, Mancuso 3rd

In her first European victory of the season, American Lindsey Vonn was able to get the better of the weather conditions, as well as current overall World Cup leader Tina Maze, at the St. Moritz super G Saturday.

It had been snowing since Friday, but just before the race, the weather cleared, giving way to winding conditions that definitely played a role as the racers poured over the upper pitch.

The wind didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Vonn, who after Friday’s fourth in the super G portion of the super combined, picked up her fourth win of the season, beating out a very competitive pace set by Maze. With a time of 1 minute, 2.71 seconds, Vonn was able to expand an early split margin of -0.11 to -.0.37 for a comfortable gap over the Slovenian, who had more trouble with the wind. 

“Today, I was thinking, a new chance, let’s risk it. And I really did it, after yesterday was not a good day,” said Vonn.

As in the Lake Louise super G, Vonn was joined on the podium Saturday by teammate Julia Mancuso, who dealt with her fair share of the wind up top to finish in the No. 3 spot, just more than a second slower than Vonn’s pace. Mancuso lost a little bit of time throughout her run on then-leader Maze.

Vonn was able to pick up 20 points on Maze in the overall World Cup points race. With three wins on the year, including Friday’s super combined, Maze retained a 167 point advantage over the American, who appears to have at least the speed side of things pretty well dialed in at this point. Vonn advanced to third in the overall, behind Maze and Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who finished fifth Saturday.

It was the 20th super G podium of Vonn’s career placing her second in all-time SG wins behind Austrian great Hermann Maier. She is now five short of tying another Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell on the women’s all-time World Cup win list with 62.

Swiss favorite Lara Gut had the crash of the day, managing one recovery before getting hung up on the inside ski and winding up on her hip. Another noteworthy DNF was Austrian Anna Ferringer, who came into the pitch a little too hot and couldn’t hang in the course.

American Laurenne Ross dealt with some bad weather, but stayed solidly on her skis for a 16th-place result. Likewise, it was another strong performance from New Hampshire’s Leanne Smith, who finished 14th, building on the super G momentum she created in Lake Louise, where she finished eighth.

Universal Sports will broadcast the race at 9 a.m. ET. Action closes in St. Moritz Sunday with giant slalom.

This story will be updated.

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee

Women’s World Cup super G, St Moritz, Switzerland, Dec. 8, 2012
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn , Head/Head/Head
2 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
3 Mancuso, Head/Head/Head
4 Suter, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
5 Hoefl-Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
6 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7 Worley, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Koehle, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
9 Curtoni, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Sterz, Voelkl/Fischer/Marker

Women’s World Cup super G, St Moritz, Switzerland. … It is the 16th of 74 races on the 2012-13 World Cup schedule. … the ninth of 43 women’s races. … It is the second of eight women’s super G’s. … It is the sandwich of three races set at St Moritz this weekend. … It is the 40th Cup race hosted at St Moritz. … the tenth super G.

It is the 57th career World Cup win for Lindsey Vonn, her 20th in super G and her third at St Moritz in three different disciplines. … She is tops for career wins among active competitors and trails just Annemarie Moser-Proell’s 62 wins and Ingemar Stenmark’s 86. … She is second among super G winners to Hermann Maier’s 24. … It is her fourth win of the season, two in downhill and two in super G.

It is the 43rd career World Cup podium for Tina Maze. … her ninth in super G and her seventh at St Moritz. … It is her fifth Cup podium of the season with podium scores in four disciplines.

It is the 33rd career Cup podium placing for Julia Mancuso. … her 13th in super G and her first podium in a St Moritz World Cup. … It is her second Cup podium of the season both coming in super G.

It is a career best Cup super G result for Marie-Michele Gagnon, scored from the 56th start position. … It is her fourth best finish of the season in seven finishes. … each of her top four results coming in separate disciplines. … Leanne Smith matches her 12th best career result. … her eighth best in SG. … It is her third point scoring result of the season. … Laurenne Ross matches her eighth best career Cup finish. … her fifth best in SG. … It is her second best result at St Moritz and first SG score at the site. … It is her fifth score of the season. … It is the 68th career Cup score for Stacey Cook. …her 19th in SG. … her fourth at St Moritz. …  It is her fourth score of the season.

Tina Maze leads the World Cup overall standings 577-414 over Maria Hoefl-Riesch (fifth in race). … Vonn is third with 410pts. … Gagnon is top Canadian overall in 12th with 142pts. … Vonn leads the super G standings 200-140 over Mancuso. … Maze is third with 130pts. … Leanne Smith is also in the top 10. … Gagnon is top Canadian in 20th with 23pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 1288-1103 over the US. … Germany is third with 841 and Canada ninth with 211pts. … The US leads the super G rankings 429-246 over Austria.

Results — Saturday St. Moritz Super G