SOELDEN, Austria, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Germany took the top two spots in Saturday's 2011 Alpine World Cup women's giant slalom season opener at Soelden, Austria, Saturday.
Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensberg won the event in a time of 2 minutes, 26:39 seconds followed by 2010 World Cup champion Kathrin Hoelzl and Italy's Manuela Moelgg.
The Germans placed three skiers in the top five positions.
Julia Mancuso was the top American in 12th place. Lindsey Vonn placed 18th.
Snow conditions were good Saturday, although there was some deterioration toward the end of the day that made it tougher on the later starters in the second run.
"The course was a little bit straighter second run with a few tricky gates, whereas the first run was just more consistent with a good rhythm," said Mancuso. "But in general, the snow wasn't as icy as it normally is in Soelden."
