VAL-D'ISERE, France, Dec 22 AFP - Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather produced two dominant runs to claim an impressive victory in the women's World Cup giant slalom in Val d'Isere on Sunday.
The 24-year-old extended her lead in the overall World Cup standings and confirmed her early season form that has seen her win the St Moritz super-G as well as three second places (Lake Louise super-G and downhill, Beaver Creek downhill) and a third place in the giant slalom, also in Beaver Creek.
Weirather clocked a combined time of 2min 24.10sec down the Oreiller Killy (OK) piste in inclement weather at the glitzy French resort.
She was a massive 0.66sec up on her rivals after a barnstorming first leg and that advantage was increased to 0.73sec over second-placed Lara Gut of Switzerland, winner of the season opener in Soelden, by the time she'd come down the second run.
Slalom specialist Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden finished third in 2:25.05 for her first World Cup podium in the discipline.
It was another Swede, the unheralded Kajsa Kling, who had been the long-time leader after starting third in the second run.
But she was eventually overtaken by the bigger names and finished 10th in a good day's racing for Sweden, with Jessica Lindell-Vikarby also taking sixth, one-hundredth of a second behind multi-medal winning German Maria Hoefl-Riesch.
Slovenia's 2011 world champion Tina Maze produced a fine second run to make up for a mistake that cost her dear on the first leg, eventually finishing in 11th spot.
American hope Mikaela Shiffrin, the reigning world slalom champion, came in eighth, just behind Austrian Anna Fenniger.
"I was really tired coming from the US to here and I had to re-think how I was doing things, making sure I was getting my recoveries," the 18-year-old said.
"Before this race I actually got some rest and I felt a lot better today which just means that I have to ski faster. So it's good and bad, but I'm very happy with a top-10."
The race was deprived of the current world giant slalom champion, France's Tessa Worley having suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in last week's slalom in Courchevel.
