Tuesday's sports briefs

Tessa Worley of France won a third consecutive women's World Cup giant slalom Tuesday, while second-place Maria Riesch overtook Lindsey Vonn at the top of the overall standings.

Worley finished her two runs on the Panorama course in a combined time of 2 minutes, 9.66 seconds to beat Riesch by 0.62 seconds. World champion Kathrin Hoelzl was third.

Julia Mancuso of the United States was fifth. Vonn, the three-time overall World Cup champion, finished seventh.

"I did a very good first run, but still didn't expect to win it," said Worley, who led Riesch by 0.49 after the opening run. "It's pretty difficult up there when you have to wait being the last starter. I just forced myself to think it was not a second run but just a whole new race I had to win."

Worley is two consecutive victories away from the record held by Anja Paerson, who won five GS races in a row in 2004. Riesch just missed out on her first career GS victory. She leads Vonn by 41 points in the overall standings.

"It's even better to be there at the end of the season as that's the only time it really matters," Riesch said. "I won't spill my energy on the standings in this stage of the season."

Neither will Vonn. The American said she would love to start 2011 as the leader, but she doesn't expect to overtake Riesch on Wednesday in the slalom event.

Vonn was unhappy with her second run, in which she seemed to hold back. "I was in a good position to maybe get on the podium today," said Vonn. "I just got too round in the middle section, I just gave the course too much respect."

Giant slalom is the only discipline lacking on Vonn's victory list, though Vonn is convinced it won't take long for that to change.

"I am consistently skiing in the top-10 [of the GS] now and I haven't done that for the rest of my career," she said. "My confidence is there and I know what to do now. It's a matter of skiing an aggressive run from top to bottom, but not overskiing and not making mistakes."

Two skiers airlifted to hospital

World Cup skiers Marco Sullivan of the U.S. and Louis-Pierre Helie of Canada crashed during downhill training Tuesday and were airlifted to a hospital. Helie injured his head, his team said. He landed hard and was picked up from the icy Stelvio course by helicopter. Sullivan was the first skier out of the gate and lost control while landing a jump midway down. He eventually got up and skied down under his own power. He was brought by helicopter to a hospital, where he was being checked for head injuries.

Lajoie was working as a special assistant for the Pirates at the time of his death. Tigers spokesman Brian Britten said he was uncertain about where Lajoie died but said Lajoie had a home in Florida. It was not clear exactly how he died.

Lajoie served the Tigers as scouting director and assistant general manager before coming general manager in 1984, a job he held till 1990. After leaving Detroit, Lajoie served as an assistant for the Red Sox, Dodgers, Reds, Braves and Brewers.

Surfing: A Texas court has blocked the release of an autopsy report on surfing champion Andy Irons at the request of his widow. Judge Melody Wilkinson approved Lyndie Irons' petition to postpone the release of the report until at least May 20. Lyndie Irons argued the report could tarnish her husband's brand, citing the "intense news frenzy" and "innuendo of drug use" surrounding her husband's death.

Speedskating: Dutch Olympic speedskater Marianne Timmer retired after a disappointing performance at the Netherlands' sprint championships this week. The 36-year-old Timmer, who is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, had planned to quit after this season.

MINNESOTA SCENE