Tessa Worley wins Lenzerheide giant slalom from Federica Brignone and Sara Hector with Mikaela Shiffrin fourth

Tessa Worley blazed to victory in the women's Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom at Lenzerheide on Sunday (6 March).

Lying third after the first run, the Frenchwoman produced a fine second descent to take victory from Federica Brignone whose blistering ski moved her up from fifth to second.

First-run leader and Beijing 2022 Olympic champion Sara Hector had to settle for third with Mikaela Shiffrin slipping to fourth after sitting in second place at midway.

Worley's 16th World Cup win saw her close the gap on Hector to just 55 points in the giant slalom standings with two races to go.

It completed a French weekend double at the Swiss resort after Romane Miradoli won Saturday's Super-G.

"I'm just so so happy," Worley said post-race. "It was a nice day, I could feel that I was just really happy to be here and I was just enjoying my time.

"I felt confident and I wanted to attack and I'm just so happy, I just saw my team on the TV so it's just so cool to share those emotions.

"I'm always nervous before the second (run), but I know it's full attack there's no question to be asked and I really started full gas, I did a small mistake at the top but I knew I had speed so I just wanted to keep going and it paid off, I'm so happy."

Meta Hrovat unhurt after nasty crash

Worley's sublime second run was all the more impressive given that she skied immediately after Meta Hrovat crashed heavily.

The Slovenian skier caught a ski in a gate and was thrown onto her back before remaining motionless on the snow for some time.

To the relief of everyone watching, she managed to sit up and regained her feet after receiving some medical attention before eventually walking away.

Despite a delay of over five minutes, Worley managed to negotiate the tricky icy top section before finding good speed on the middle of the run.

Mikaela Shiffrin stretches lead at the top of overall standings

Shiffrin moved a step closer to her fourth overall World Cup title as her only realistic challenger, Petra Vlhova, slid out on the first run.

Slovakia's slalom Olympic champion now trails Shiffrin by 117 points with six races remaining.

Vlhova was one of several DNFs on the first run with Marta Bassino and Alice Robinson among those failing to make it down, while Beijing 2022 Super-G champ Lara Gut-Behrami chose not to start.

The circuit heads to Are, Sweden next weekend with a giant slalom on Friday and a slalom on Saturday before the World Cup Finals in Courchevel, France.