St. Moritz, Switzerland – Defending Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn and a surging Julia Mancuso finished 7-8 in the St. Moritz giant slalom Sunday as the second run was delayed an hour due to high winds. Tessa Worley of France took the come-from-behind victory, just .01 over Tanja Poutianen of Finland when German favorites Kathrin Hoelzl and Viktoria Rebensburg faltered in the second run.nA strong second run earned Canadian Marie-Michèle Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, a fifth place finish just off the podium.
“The snow conditions were perfect, it was a little windy for a while there and they delayed it and then we kept going,” said Vonn, of Vail, Colo., who gained back a few more points toward the overall lead as German Maria Riesch finished 19th. “It was nice to get a race in that was more like my training. The first run I felt like I was a little bit too relaxed. I skied conservatively and too round, but the second run I skied much more aggressively and was really happy with it.”
Vonn produced the fourth fastest second run to hurdle nine places after opening the day in 16th, while Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Mancuso, who was sixth after an impressive first run, dropped two slots to eighth after getting hung up in the grippy snow lower on the pitch.
Mancuso wasn’t the only racer to have trouble in the second run as Hoelzl, the defending World Cup GS champion, hit a rut and skied over her pole to go out while Vancouver GS gold medalist Rebensburg fell off line into the soft snow on multiple occasions to drop to 10th after leading the first run.
“I made a mistake because I wasn’t respecting the conditions,” said Mancuso, who was on the World Cup podium last weekend in the Lake Louise super G. “I still don’t know what happened I just got stuck and a little back and lost a lot time.”
“At the bottom of the pitch there was a little turny section coming into a delay and Jules just got kind of high sided in the delay,” said U.S. Ski Team technical Head Coach Trevor Wagner. “It was weird, but she’s really happy with the way she’s skiing right now, her equipment is figured out and things are coming around.”
Gagnon, who was 14th after the opening run, finished just 0.48 seconds from the podium in a two-run combined time of 2:11.49. She had the third best second run of the day.
“I was really surprised. I was asking myself this morning if I was going to be in the top 30 because in the GS in Aspen I just missed qualifying,” said Gagnon about Sunday’s result. “I am still disappointed about that, but I’m skiing well and I have been in GS since Sölden so I feel good about it.”
Sarah Schleper, of Vail, Colo., barely missed making the final, despite controlled skiing to finish 32nd in the opening run.
“Sarah is such a solid skier that sometimes it doesn’t work to her advantage,” added U.S. Ski Team women’s Head Coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “She’s right where she needs to be on her skis and is so clean, but sometimes you can’t attack and be clean at the same time. To make it in today, you had to attack.”
As for other Canadians, Marie-Pier Préfontaine, of Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, finished 24th in 2:13.49 also a personal best World Cup result. Whistler, British Columbia’s Britt Janyk narrowly missed out, finishing 37th in the opening run, 0.34 seconds from a top 30 time.
Vonn and Mancuso now roll to Val d’Isere, France for a series of three speed races opening with super G on Dec. 17, replacing the wind scrapped race from Saturday in St. Moritz. Val d’Isere will also feature a downhill and the season’s first super combined.
Schleper and the women’s tech team will regroup at the official women’s U.S. Ski Team European training base in Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria for a week of training before a pre-holiday slalom on Dec. 21 in Courchevel, France.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
St. Moritz, Switzerland
December 12, 2010
Giant Slalom
1. Tessa Worley, France, 2:10.70
2. Tanja Poutianen, Finland, 2:10.71
3. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 2:11.01
4. Anemone Marmottan, France, 2:11.22
5. Marie-Michele Gagnon, Canada, 2:11.49