VAL D'ISERE, France, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Tina Weirather of Lichtenstein took over first place in the World Cup overall standings Sunday with her victory in the giant slalom at Val d'Isere.
It was the first career win in the giant slalom for Weirather, who edged second-place Lara Gut of Switzerland by 0.73 seconds and nudged her out of the overall lead.
"It was a great Christmas gift," said Weirather. "To win a giant slalom means a lot. The GS has always been the discipline in which I wanted to do well."
Weirather turned in a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 24.10 seconds on the course, which is seldom used for giant slaloms.
Sweden continued its recent streak of World Cup podiums with a third-place finish by Maria Pietilae-Holmner. It was the first time Pietilae-Holmner had finished in the money in the giant slalom. Her time was 2:25.05.
Mikaela Schffrin took eighth place and was the top U.S. finisher. Maria Hoefl-Riesch finished 11th and was in third place in the overall standings at the end of the day.
