Soelden, Austria – World Cup ski racing veteran Tina Maze of Slovenia charged to a strong Audi FIS Alpine World Cup season opening giant slalom win on Saturday with a .42 margin over Austria’s Kathrin Zettel and Stefanie Koehle on the Rettenbach Glacier in Soelden.

It was Maze’s third Soelden win but her first since 2005. She built up a huge 0.74-second lead after the first run and put together a solid second run to win with a two-run combined time of 2:31.41.

Visibility went on to play a role in the second run with thick fog, strong winds and falling snow impacting several of the top 10 skiers from the morning run.

“It was a struggle,” Canadian women’s technical head coach Jim Pollock said of Saturday’s second run. “The fog and the snow and the wind came in and then the racers went down. It was rough.”

It was a rough day, indeed, for the U.S. Ski Team as defending Soelden champion Lindsey Vonn was off the pace after a mistake in the first run put her in 12th place before going down in the second run after hooking her left hand on a gate.

“That was definitely not the game plan,” Vonn admitted. “In the first run, I felt like I skied solid, but didn’t risk enough. I was a little bit too conservative on the pitch. In general I’m happy with my position on my skis and the way I’m skiing. I just didn’t execute the way I was hoping to today.

“Second run I was trying as hard as I could to make up two and a half seconds, which is tough to do, and I got my arm caught on a gate. Visibility was really bad today. I think five of the top 10 went out,” Vonn added.

Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso lost a ski and went down in the first run.

“It’s a first for me, so I’ll take it as a first and a last since it was the first race of the season. Nine out of 10 times your ski might stay on. It was sort of the perfect storm. I was going to make a transition and it was bumpy. My ski just caught the other ski and clicked off.”

Adding insult to injury, 17-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin of Eagle, Colo., missed the top 30 final by only .01 seconds.

“I have to say, I’m a little bummed,” said a disappointed Shiffrin. “I’ve been training fast, but it’s what matters in a race and that wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I feel like I’m skiing well and just in general my skiing is better than it was last year by a long shot so I’m really looking forward to the season in both giant slalom and slalom.”

The Canadian squad fared better as Marie-Michèle Gagnon, 23, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, battled throughthe fog to secure a sixth-place finish. Gagnon’s teammate Marie-Pier Préfontaine, of Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, gave Canada a second top-20 result with a creditable 19^th-place finish. Erin Mielzynski, of Guelph, Ontario, started at the back of the pack and finished 49^th after the first run.

“It’s definitely a really good start to the season,” said Gagnon, who started 24th. “I didn’t come in with many expectations. I’ve been skiing well but I was just hoping for top 30, really.”

The U.S. Ski Team women now head home for the opening of the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain next Wednesday.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Soelden, Austria – Oct. 27, 2012
Women’s Giant Slalom