Worley takes second World Cup of young career in Are

FRANCE'S Tessa Worley claimed a surprise victory at the giant slalom World Cup in Are, Sweden, romping home by more than half a second.

SHOCK WIN: 20-year-old Tessa Worley takes gold at Are World Cup - the second of her career

It's just the second World Cup win of the 20-year-old's career, after she topped the podium in Aspen last season.

But she was in dominant control in Sweden, producing the fastest time of the first leg, and while Slovenia's Tina Maze applied the pressure in the second, Worley remained calm to take gold.

Indeed it was in her superb first run, where she finished in 1:10.55 minutes, that Worley excelled. She came home 0.81 secs ahead of Maze and Austria's Kathrin Zettel, who were tied for second.

Overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn of the USA continues to struggle in giant slalom and she skied out after just a handful of gates.

Vonn is the current overall World Cup champion but has yet to finish on the podium in giant slalom, the only discipline where she has not secured a World Cup victory.

Germany's Maria Riesch, who trails Vonn by 27 points in the overall standings, was fourth after the first run and in good position to overtake the American but skied out in the second.

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Chemmy Alcott continues to impress and finished joint 11th in a combined time of 2:25.22.

It's the 27-year-old's best finish of the season, after placing 15th in last weekend's super-G in Lake Louise and is her highest World Cup place since coming home tenth in Soelden in October last year.