ALPINE:

Worley overtakes Rebensburg to claim Aspen GS

Nov. 27, 2010

ASPEN, Colorado — Tessa Worley of France used a strong second run to win a World Cup giant slalom Saturday, edging Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany by 0.01 seconds.

Three-time overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn failed to finish the first run after taking a wide turn and skiing off the course.

The Canadians also struggled, with Marie-Michele Gagnon missing the cut, placing 33rd in the opening run, and Marie-Piere Prefontaine skiing out.

Worley, who won this race in 2008, finished in 2 minutes, 6.81 seconds. She surged back to beat Rebensburg, who had the fastest time in the first run.

"I couldn't believe it," the 21-year-old Worley said shortly after finishing. "It was really close and it looked like she was going to get me. I was worried close to the end, but once she didn't get it, I felt really good. I was really pumped."

Kathrin Hoelzl of Germany was third, just 0.02 behind. She won this event last year.

Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley, Calif., was the top American finisher, placing eighth in 2:07.51. She was in second place coming into the final run but her ski was wobbling as she made her final trip through the course, causing her to ease off the accelerator. She's recently lost her ski twice in training.

"I don't know if something weird clicked in my head," said Mancuso, who won gold in the GS at the 2006 Torino Olympics. "I backed off a lot."

There appeared to be a lot of that going on as the course was shrouded in shadows for the final run, making it difficult to see the bumps and ridges.

Rebensburg went last and that might have played a role in why she lost time to Worley. That and the fact she slowed down in the flat sections.

"I'm angry about that," Rebensburg said. "I know I was pretty close. I thought, 'Oh, heck, one-hundredth of a second.' But I'm pretty happy."

Rebensburg and Hoelzl have been skiing well in the slalom all season. The German teammates went 1-2 at Sölden, Austria, last month with Rebensburg winning by a slim margin.

"Viktoria and Kathrin are the best GS girls in the world right now," said Germany's Maria Riesch, who is the early overall World Cup standings leader and increased her lead on Vonn with a ninth-place finish. "I'd like to keep up with them."

Vonn carried too much speed into an upper section of the course and couldn't recover to make a gate, leaving a spray of snow in her wake.

She has never finished on the podium in a World Cup giant slalom. The Vail skier also failed to qualify for the second run last year in Aspen, the closest thing she has to a home meet. After her disappointing performance Saturday, Vonn walked out of the media area without stopping to talk.

On Sunday, the women compete in a slalom, before the women's tour heads to Lake Louise for speed races. S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press contributed to this report

Aspen women's World Cup GS results