Italian Federica Brignone crushed the combined super-G, the first race of the Alpine Skiing World Championships on Monday in Méribel, Mikaela Shiffrin, the favorite, placing sixth.
Under a bright sun, Brignone showed her commitment on a tricky track to beat the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami and the Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel, tied at 71/100.
Huge favorite, the American Mikaela Shiffrin, defending champion, set the sixth time at 96/100 from Brignone.
Shiffrin can still hope to win after the slalom round, disputed at 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. GMT). The 27-year-old American is indeed the best specialist in tight stakes.
Brignone, Olympic bronze medalist in the combined in Beijing, will have to limit the breakage in slalom, which she rarely competes on the world circuit.
The French Tessa Worley and Laura Gauché took 11th place tied at 1 sec 39/100. Worley did not plan to line up in the slalom, using the morning super-G as a cue for the rest of Worlds.
Romane Miradoli is 16th at 1 sec 67/100.
Double combined Olympic champion, the Swiss Michelle Gisin is 14th at 1 sec 58/100, just ahead of her compatriot Wendy Holdener.
