Austria's Julia Scheib wins giant slalom in Italy; Mikaela Shiffrin fourth

Austria's Julia Scheib continued her giant slalom dominance leading up to next month's Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, beating Switzerland's Camille Rast by 0.37 seconds at the Kronplatz resort in Italy on Tuesday.

Defending Olympic champion Sara Hector of Sweden finished 0.46 behind Scheib after leading following the first run. American Mikaela Shiffrin took fourth, 0.86 behind, as she continues to make strides in the discipline. Shiffrin narrowly missed claiming her first giant slalom podium in two years, with her fourth place building on a fifth and sixth in the previous two events.

The event also featured the return of defending World Cup giant slalom and overall champion Federica Brignone following a 292-day layoff after breaking multiple bones in her left leg last April. The Italian finished sixth, 1.23 behind, and said her "hand was shaking" out of nerves before her first run.

Brignone said she will skip this weekend's races in the Czech Republic, choosing to return to Cortina d'Ampezzo a little more than an hour away to focus on speed training ahead of deciding which Olympic events the 35-year-old feels ready to participate in.

"As things stand, we're certain Federica will be on the start line at the Olympic races," Davide Brignone said, per NBCOlympics.com. "Everything else will be evaluated day by day, as it has been over the past nine months."

Scheib, 27, leads the standings following her fourth victory of the season after never having previously won a World Cup race. She also has a pair of runner-up finishes along with a DNF and is 139 points ahead of Rast, who notched her fourth runner-up finish of the season.

The Winter Olympics begin Feb. 6, with the women's giant slalom scheduled for Feb. 15.

--Field Level Media