VAL D'ISERE, France (AP) Italian skier Sofia Goggia was fastest in the second World Cup downhill training session on Thursday, nearly one second ahead of defending overall champion Lara Gut.
Goggia was .31 seconds ahead of Cornelia Huetter and .85 clear of Gut on the Oreiller-Killy course in the French Alps.
Goggia has started the season with four podium finishes, including second in a downhill in Canada this month.
Before this season, her best career finish was fourth.
In the first training on Wednesday, Gut was quickest.
''Yesterday I had a pretty good run, and this gave me the opportunity to try a few things today,'' the Swiss skier said. ''Some were good, others not really. But it's not the first time I've been here. I know where I have to ski fast and ski clever.''
Gut is second in the overall standings, 105 points behind Mikaela Shiffrin, who is not competing this weekend.
There is an Alpine combined race on Friday, a downhill on Saturday, and a super-G on Sunday.
Last year, Gut clinched a downhill-Alpine combined double in Val d'Isere.
She said the course is well suited for a quick race on Friday.
''The snow is really good. I spoke with a few girls yesterday and they were already saying it looks in good shape,'' said Gut, who has five career podium finishes in Val d'Isere. ''We usually have good races here. I'm going to try and put everything together for tomorrow.''
