CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ItalyKITZBUEHEL, Austria — Lindsey Vonn managed to expand her lead in the overall World Cup standings Sunday despite finishing 10th in a giant slalom in which Kathrin Zettel led an Austrian sweep.
With Maria Riesch skiing out in the first run and Anja Paerson placing 18th after nearly veering off course a few gates from the finish, Vonn gained points on both of her direct rivals.
“I guess I was ahead of the right people,” the U.S. skier said. “It definitely wasn’t the day I was really hoping for, but points are points and it was a tough course, a lot of people went out. It was important that I got to the finish today.”
Vonn leads the overall standings with 882 points, followed by Riesch with 810 and Paerson with 775.
Zettel, who was second after the opening run on the Olympia delle Tofane course, won in 2 minutes, 47.10 seconds, 1.39 seconds ahead of Michaela Kirchgasser and 1.71 better than Elisabeth Goergl.
A blizzard that dumped more than 4 feet of snow on Cortina last week made for soft and precarious conditions.
“I took some wider turns so as not to put too much pressure on the skis,” Zettel said. “I didn’t always choose the most direct line.”
In Saturday’s downhill, the top Austrian was Ingrid Rumpfhuber in 12th place. It marked the first time after 121 women’s downhills that skiing’s “Wunderteam” failed to place a skier in the top 10.
“It really woke us up,” Zettel said. “There was a lot of teamwork involved today and everything worked to perfection.”
Vonn was fifth after the opening run, but struggled in the second leg.
“I felt like it was going OK, then on the bottom I just got a little late and I think I dumped some speed for the flats,” she said. “It was an incredibly turny course and definitely not suited for my style.”
Lizeroux wins men’s World Cup. Julien Lizeroux edged Jean-Baptiste Grange in a 1-2 French finish at a men’s World Cup slalom in which American Bode Miller went out early in the first run after missing a gate.
Lizeroux, who had never before been on the World Cup podium, won on the Ganslern course in a total time of 1 minute, 33.83 seconds, beating Grange by 0.08 seconds. Patrick Thaler of Italy earned his first podium finish, taking third, 0.67 seconds behind Lizeroux.
“It’s great for every racer to win here,” the 29-year-old Lizeroux said. “Last year it was Jean-Baptiste, now it’s me. That’s incredible.”
Miller, the defending overall World Cup champion who won the combined in Kitzbuehel last year, missed the sixth gate in his first run after losing balance on a bump. He has only three podium finishes this season and is ninth in the standings.
Ted Ligety of the United States, who was 19th after the opening run, went out in his second run.
