ST. MORITZ, Switzerland and#8212; Defending World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn and a surging Julia Mancuso finished 7-8 in the St. Moritz giant slalom on Sunday.

Tessa Worley of France took the come-from-behind victory, just .01 over Tanja Poutianen of Finland when German favorites Kathrin Hoelzl and Viktoria Rebensburg faltered in the second run, which was delayed an hour due to high winds.

and#8220;The snow conditions were perfect; it was a little windy for a while there and they delayed it and then we kept going,and#8221; said Vonn, who gained back a few more points toward the overall lead as German Maria Riesch finished 19th. and#8220;It was nice to get a race in that was more like my training. The first run I felt like I was a little bit too relaxed. I skied conservatively and too round, but the second run I skied much more aggressively and was really happy with it.and#8221;

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Vonn produced the fourth-fastest second run to hurdle nine places after opening the day in 16th.

Mancuso, meanwhile, who was sixth after an impressive first run, dropped two slots to eighth after getting hung up in the grippy snow lower on the pitch.

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Mancuso wasn’t the only racer to have trouble in the second run as Hoelzl, the defending World Cup GS champion, hit a rut and skied over her pole to go out while Vancouver GS gold medalist Rebensburg fell off line into the soft snow on multiple occasions to drop to 10th after leading the first run.

and#8220;I made a mistake because I wasn’t respecting the conditions,and#8221; said Mancuso, who was on the World Cup podium last weekend in the Lake Louise super G. and#8220;I still don’t know what happened. I just got stuck and a little back and lost a lot of time.and#8221;

U.S. Ski Team technical Head Coach Trevor Wagner explained further.

and#8220;At the bottom of the pitch there was a little turny section coming into a delay and Jules just got kind of high sided in the delay,and#8221; Wagner said. and#8220;It was weird, but she’s really happy with the way she’s skiing right now, her equipment is figured out and things are coming around.and#8221;

Vonn and Mancuso now roll to Val d’Isere, France, for a series of three speed races opening with super G on Friday, Dec. 17, replacing the wind-scrapped race from Saturday in St. Moritz. Val d’Isere will also feature a downhill and the season’s first super combined.

VAL D’ISERE, France and#8212; Reigning Alpine World Cup giant slalom champion Ted Ligety of Park City, Utah, continued to dominate the discipline, winning his second straight GS and#8212; this one by over a second in Val d’Isere.

Ligety won the Audi Birds of Prey GS less than a week ago in Beaver Creek, Colo., by a .82 margin. World Cup overall leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was second, 1.05 shy of Ligety.

and#8220;It’s a surprising day for sure. It’s the hardest race I’ve had for a long time,and#8221; said Ligety, who captured the GS bronze medal in Val d’Isere at the 2009 World Championships. and#8220;This years is quite a bit turnier even than in most years. Both runs felt like I had the E brake on the whole time, but they were relatively clean. I was kind of surprised at how fast I was.and#8221;

and#8220;It was a clinic out there today. I’m a little bit dumbfounded,and#8221; said U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Sasha Rearick. and#8220;It was a worker, both courses were very very turny and very tight. You just had to keep fighting all the way to the bottom. I’ve been coaching Ted a long time and I’ve never seen him find this kind of confidence. He did a great job winning the first run and then in the second run it was the same thing, just perfect execution and#8212; true champion style.and#8221;