Tessa Worley of France wins giant slalom; Lindsey Vonn goes off course in 1st run

Worley wins giant slalom; Vonn goes off course

ARE, Sweden — Tessa Worley of France secured her second career World Cup victory by winning the giant slalom on Saturday, while Lindsey Vonn skied out in the first leg.

Vonn, the overall World Cup leader, came late into a turn near the start and lost control of her skis. After winning two straight downhills last weekend in Lake Louise, Alberta, Vonn is still looking for her first giant slalom podium finish.

Worley led after the first run on a course that caused plenty of trouble for the pre-race favorites. She had another controlled performance in the second run to finish in a combined time of 2 minutes, 23.22 seconds.

“I was a bit nervous” at the start of the second run, Worley said. “But I took it like a second first run, another race.”

Tina Maze of Slovenia was 0.57 seconds behind and Kathrin Zettel of Austria was third to maintain her lead in the GS standings.

It’s only the second podium finish for the 20-year-old Worley, but the giant slalom specialist is making them count.

“I would take a second or third place, too,” said Worley, who won a GS last year in Aspen, Colo. “But I like to win.”

Maria Riesch of Germany looked set to overtake Vonn in the overall standings after finishing fourth in the first leg, but she went out in similar fashion in the second.

Sarah Schleper of the United States was the biggest surprise of the second run, setting the fastest time of 1:11.58 to climb from 19th to eighth for her first top-10 finish since 2006.

The 30-year-old Schleper missed the 2007 season because of a knee injury and sat out the next year after giving birth to a son.