CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy - Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden won a super-G Monday for her first World Cup victory, taking advantage of soft snow that hampered all of the race favourites.
Lindell-Vikarby sped down the 1.85-kilometre Olympia delle Tofane course in one minute 25.13 seconds. Anna Fenninger of Austria finished second, 0.81 seconds behind, and Andrea Dettling of Switzerland was third, 0.87 back.
"I didn't make any mistakes. I was really fast on top, especially at that one gate where everyone got pushed around," Lindell-Vikarby said. "Cortina has always been one of my favourite places and I know the course really well. This is my fifth time here."
Lindsey Vonn finished eighth and extended her lead in the overall World Cup standings ahead of Maria Riesch and Anja Paerson, who both fell and did not finish. Neither Riesch nor Paerson were seriously injured.
"In the end, we got lucky," Vonn said. "It was a strange race."
Top Canadian was Britt Janyk of Whistler, B.C., in 12th at 1:26.27.
"I felt very positive about my skiing throughout the course, especially at the top," said Janyk, who battled a cold all week along with other team members. "Unfortunately, I just over-skied one turn and that was enough to push me back.
"I'm less than three tenths from the podium so at least I know my skiing is strong and my confidence is building."
Kelly Vanderbeek of Kitchener, Ont., was 20th in 1:25.82 while Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., was 39th in 1:28.07. Montreal's Emilie Desforges was 53rd in 1:29.76. Emily Brydon of Fernie, B.C., fell in the technical section and had a minor cut on her leg.
Vonn was dissatisfied with her performance, though, and upset with her ski man of the past three seasons, Niclas Cronsell -- who formerly worked with Swedish standout Pernilla Wiberg.
"I think we missed the wax today, because I had a perfect run," she said. "That would have normally won me the race. I really feel confident on this hill in super-G and I skied absolutely perfect. I mean I was pushing the line, I was clean everywhere, I was tucking everywhere. The skis were definitely not running today."
Vonn has not won a super-G in two years.
Still, the American leads the overall standings with 914 points. Riesch is next with 810 points and Paerson was joined in third by Sunday's giant slalom winner Kathrin Zettel with 775 points each. Zettel was 11th in the super-G.
Nadia Fanchini of Italy finished fifth and moved to the top of the super-G standings with 205 points. Fabienne Suter is next with 176 points and Lindell-Vikarby is third with 156.
It marked the best career results for each of the top three finishers.
Lindell-Vikarby's previous best result was third in a super-G in Lake Louise, Alta., two seasons ago. Fenninger won two golds in giant slalom and combined at last year's junior world championships in Formigal, Spain, plus a gold in super-G at the 2006 junior worlds in Le Massif, Que.
The favourites did not seem prepared for the sunny conditions and warm temperatures, which softened the snow.
Paerson was 0.43 faster than teammate Lindell-Vikarby midway down, then lost an edge at high speed, crashed through a gate and came to a stop in the safety netting. She got right up and made her way down the rest of the course on one ski.
Paerson said she bruised her right elbow, but that it was "nothing serious." Paerson also bruised her left knee while landing a jump in Saturday's downhill.
"It's getting better every day," Paerson said of her knee. "I'm going to take a day off tomorrow and mend it."
Paerson waited with Lindell-Vikarby as the final skiers came down, then celebrated with her teammate.
Lindell-Vikarby finished eighth and ninth in the super-G here the past two years.
"We already knew she could do it last year, so when I saw her race today I knew it was a perfect run," Paerson said. "We had our tactics and she knew exactly what she was supposed to do. I knew she would be there for the victory if I wasn't."
At the world championships, which begin in Val d'Isere, France, next week, Paerson has three titles to defend.
Riesch had already lost significant time before she went out in the same spot as Paerson. The German also bruised her arm.
The race was rescheduled from last week following a blizzard that dumped 140 centimetres of fresh snow on Cortina.
