French skier Tessa Worley leads the GS in Shiffrin’s absence

LIENZ, Austria (AP) – French skier Tessa Worley set the best time in the opening round of a women’s World Cup giant slalom on Tuesday in the absence of Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin and champion of the world Lara Gut-Behrami.
Running through flat fires on the Schlossberg course, Worley edged Sweden’s Sara Hector by 0.12 seconds. Six days ago, Hector won his first GS in seven years.
âThe layout of the course was quite slow and turning. You really needed to push long past the gate and find speed wherever you could, âWorley said.
Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway was .29 behind and defending champion Petra Vlhova was .41 behind in fourth.
Alice Robinson from New Zealand, who returned after recovering from a coronavirus infection, was 0.45 behind in fifth.
Italian speed specialist Sofia Goggia, who is Shiffrin’s main challenger for the overall title, was 1.58 behind in the second leg.
Shiffrin announced on Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19, excluding the American from the GS and Wednesday slalom, the last two races of the calendar year.
The American has won two of the three previous giant slaloms this season and has dominated both the overall and the discipline standings.
Gut-Behrami completed a 10-day quarantine after testing positive on December 17, but his tests still came back positive, the Swiss ski team said.
Race director Peter Gerdol and another FIS official were also missing from the event following positive tests.
No spectators have been allowed to race in the Lienzer Dolomites amid strict anti-coronavirus measures in Austria.
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