Lindsey Vonn takes huge lead over rival Maria Riesch in a World Cup super-combi

Vonn opens big lead in World Cup super-combi

VAL D’ISERE, France — Lindsey Vonn took a commanding lead after the downhill run of a World Cup super-combi Friday in the French Alps.

Under light snow and freezing temperatures, the 25-year-old American finished in 1 minute, 44.66 seconds on the Oreiller-Killy course, 1.52 seconds ahead of Germany’s Maria Riesch.

“I didn’t expect such an amazing run,” Vonn said. “I needed as much time as possible to stay out ahead of Maria. I made a lot of mistakes in the middle but I did not seem to lose any time.”

Emily Brydon of Canada had to take a second start after Swiss skier Andrea Dettling fell in front of her and was third, 1.69 seconds off the pace.

A slalom run was scheduled for later Friday.

Vonn, who dominated both training sessions, won downhill and super-G world titles in Val d’Isere last season and has already claimed the first two downhills of the season.

Vonn had disappointing results last week in Are, Sweden, where she finished eighth in a slalom and skied out in a giant slalom to slip to second place in the overall standings behind Riesch. The German skier leads with 441 points, 20 more than Vonn.

Vonn said she trained in slalom and made some changes after the Are races to help her in the technical events.

“I don’t want to take any risks,” she said about the slalom run. “I’m going to try and put in a solid run.”

Elisabeth Goergl of Austria, who prevented Vonn from winning three straight races earlier this month when she narrowly beat her in a super-G in Lake Louise, Alberta, posted the fourth best time in 1:47.10.

Defending super-combi World Cup champion Anja Paerson of Sweden was fifth, 2.47 seconds behind Vonn.