World Cup Skiing: Tessa Worley wins opening race of the season in Soelden

France’s Tessa Worley marked the opening of the Alpine World Cup skiing season Saturday with a breathtaking second run to win the women’s giant slalom at Soelden in Austria.

Worley mastered tricky conditions on a snow and fog-hit Rettenbach Glacier to finish 0.35 seconds ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone with US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin nearly a second down in third place.

It was a stunning performance from the 29-year-old, who is a serving sergeant in the French Army, but also a two-time world champion in the giant slalom discipline.

She was only third after the first run, but second time down she easily eclipsed the time of Shiffrin and also saw off the challenge of first-run leader Brignone.

Reigning World Cup GS champion, Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg, dropped from second to fourth after taking a late gate wide in her attempt to match Worley’s super-smooth second leg performance.

Shiffrin, who took Olympic gold in giant slalom earlier this year, is seeking a third straight overall World Cup title and hoping to win a fourth straight slalom world championship crown in Are later in the season.

The 23-year-old won 12 times last season, but will have to wait to get off the mark in this new campaign after Worley secured the first- ever French success at Soelden, which is the traditional host for the season-opener.

“The slope was very bumpy and very difficult, I just wanted to charge and have no regrets at the end,” said Worley, who was winning her 13th career World Cup title.

Men’s opener canceled

The men’s World Cup season was due to start with a giant slalom Sunday at Soelden, but with over 50cm of snow falling overnight and high winds, it was canceled.

It was the second year in a row that the men’s race at Soelden had been hit by bad weather.

The season will now start with a slalom in Levi in Finland on November 18.