SOELDEN, Austria — Federica Brignone of Italy earned her first career World Cup win at the season-opening women’s giant slalom on Saturday.
Brignone held on to a commanding first-run lead to beat last year’s winner Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States by 0.85 seconds.
It was Brignone’s maiden victory in 99 World Cup starts after seven previous podium places.
Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein came 1.25 behind in third and Lara Gut of Switzerland was another 0.06 back in fourth.
Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany posted the fastest second-run time and improved from 12th to sixth, 2.28 off the lead.
Lindey Vonn skipped the race after having only just recovered from an ankle injury, while defending overall champion Anna Fenninger was ruled for the season after knee surgery following a training crash Wednesday.
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