TREMBLANT, Quebec — Federica Brignone of Italy led after the opening run of a women’s World Cup giant slalom on Saturday, with American Mikaela Shiffrin sitting in fifth place.
Brignone finished the first leg on foggy Mont Tremblant - which hadn’t hosted a World Cup ski race in 40 years - in 1 minute, 6.50 seconds. Sara Hector of Sweden was second fastest in 1:06.61, followed by Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland in 106.85.
Overall World Cup leader Shiffrin’s time was 1:06.97 heading into the second run as she pursues what would be a record-extending 91st career victory.
Brignone was the 2020 World Cup overall champion and the silver medalist in the giant slalom at last year’s Beijing Olympics, behind Hector. Gut-Behrami took the bronze at the Winter Games.
Gut-Behrami is seeking a third consecutive GS win to start the season after coming in first in the season-opening race in Austria in October - where Brignone was the runner-up - and at Killington, Vermont, last weekend.
Shiffrin won the GS season title last season while setting the record for most career wins in the discipline with 21. She finished sixth in this season’s opener, then was third in Killington.
There is another women’s giant slalom scheduled for Sunday in Tremblant.
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