France's Tessa Worely not only took on 63 other racers and an unfamiliar course, but she also had strong winds to contend with as she came away with her second consecutive World Cup giant slalom win, taking over at the top of that discipline’s standings today (Feb. 12) in Soldeu, Andorra.

Worley won the seventh World Cup race of her career with a combine advantage of 0.18 seconds after she led the way in the first run. She now holds the lead in the overall GS rankings by 20 points, jumping over the previous leader, German Viktoria Rebensburg who failed to finish the first run today. Worley is on a GS two-win streak having taken the last giant slalom three weeks ago in Kranjska Gora as well.

“I am very happy, there were a lot of French here and I wanted to win this one; it was very nice skiing,” said Worley. “I was not thinking about the wind, I think I was lucky, I’m just happy I managed to ski fast.”

Slovenia’s Tina Maze jumped from fourth in the first run to finish second and collect her seventh podium of the season across four disciplines.

German defending overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch also earned her seventh top-three finish of the season in third, maintaining her position in the first run.

Wind has been the story all weekend at the first ever World Cup event to be held in the tiny country (Friday’s GS was canceled due to unsafe gusty conditions) and today was no exception. Officials lowered the second run start by 13 gates (100 vertical meters) after gusts played too much of a factor in the first run.

Looking past the wind, conditions were beautiful for Soldeu's World Cup debut . Around five thousand fans cheered on the racers and danced to the music in bright sun shine all weekend.

Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon led all North Americans in seventh place today to continue her strong weekend in Andorra (eighth in yesterday’s slalom). She stood ninth after the first run then put down the fifth-fastest second run to climb the results sheet.

American overall leader Lindsey Vonn, who was tied for 12 in the first run, neither gained nor lost much time in the second run but benefited from several late DNFs to finish eighth. She currently stands fourth in the season GS rankings after taking a win in the discipline for the first time in her career at the opening race of the season in Soelden, Austria. Vonn’s grip on the overall lead is still rock solid as she stands 410 points ahead of Maze who gained a little ground today in second place.

“It's not at all what I had in mind when I came here. I was looking for podiums and the first giant slalom was canceled, I skied out of the slalom and finished eighth here,” said Vonn. “Unfortunately, I made a really big mistake right in the middle of the course going onto the flat and lost a lot of time. It's an obvious disappointment.”

Fellow American Julia Mancuso, standing 18th after the first run, was having a solid second run down the brand new course with a 0.41-second lead at the last split timer but she dropped speed on the final steep pitch and had to settle for 16th, 2.31 seconds behind the winning time.

American 16-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin scored her first GS World Cup points in 26th after reaching her first ever second run in the discipline in 28th after the first run.

“All year I've been so frustrated with giant slalom because I get down and I don't feel like I've skied very well and then to top it off I don't get a second run to try and make it better,” said Shiffrin. ”Finally I got the second run and I coudn't be more excited. This entire experience in Andorra has been great. I hope we get to come back here.”

Overall GS leader, German Viktoria Rebensburg had her first  DNF in three years, missing a gate high on the first run course.

The women’s World Cup tour now moves to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Olympic preview event next week. Three day’s of downhill training runs begin Wednesday, the downhill race is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 18 followed by a super combined on Sunday.

“I'm really excited to go to Sochi. It's the first chance we're going to have to look at the Olympic course. I've heard a lot of things about it, but I've never seen it,” said Vonn. “It will be my first trip to Russia so I'm really looking foreward to getting a good look at the course and hopefully puting down a few good runs on it so I can prepare myself for the Olympics.”

Image by Gepa

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Women's World Cup Giant Slalom, Soldeu-Grandvalira, Andorra, Feb. 12, 2012
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Worley, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
3 Hoefl-Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
4 Moelgg, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
5 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
6 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
7 Gagnon, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
9 Gut, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Brem, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Women's World Cup Giant Slalom, Soldeu-Grandvalira, Andorra, Feb. 12, 2012. ... It is the 25th race of the women's 39 race 2012 World Cup schedule. ... It is the sixth scheduled of nine GS  races, but the fifth to be held.

It is the seventh career World Cup win for Tessa Worley. ... all in GS. ... It is her second win of the season, the other coming at Kranjska Gora Jan. 21. ... She also recorded a third place finish at Lienz Dec. 28. ... She matches Michele Jacot for fourth all-time among French skiers for GS wins.

It is the 35th career World Cup podium placing for Tina Maze. ... her 14th in GS. ... It is her seventh podium result of the season without scoring a victory. ... and first of the season in GS.

It is the 65th career World Cup podium placing for Maria Hoefl-Riesch and fourth in GS. ... It is her seventh podium of the season and first in GS.

North Americans: It is the eighth career World Cup top 10 for Marie-Michele Gagnon and third in GS. ... The result matches her second best career finish, the first a fifth, also in GS at St Moritz Dec. 12, 2010. ...  It is the 150th career World Cup top 10 for Lindsey Vonn. ... her 17th in GS. ... It is her 18th top 10 of the season. ... and fourth of the season. ... It is her fourth best GS result of the season. ... Julia Mancuso matches her 34th best career GS result. ... It is the fourth best of seven career Cup scoring finishes for Marie-Pier Prefontaine. ... Her second best of three results this season. ... It is the fourth career World Cup scoring result for Mikaela Shiffrin. ... her first in GS. ... It is her first time scoring twice in the same weekend.

Standings: Vonn leads the overall standings 1382-972 for Maze. ... Hoefl-Riesch is third with 856pts. ... Mancuso is seventh with 622pts. ... Gagnon is top Canadian overall in 27th with 204pts. ... Worley takes over the lead of the GS standings 310-290 for Viktoria Rebensburg (DNF 1st). ... Anna Fenninger (sixth in race) is third with 262pts. ...Vonn is fourth with 249pts and Mancuso ninth at 127pts. ... Gagnon is top Canadian in 24th with 51pts. ... Austria leads the women's Nations Cup 4131-2606 over the US. ... Italy is third with 1949. ... Canada is tenth with 360pts.