Austrian town Semmering will host an additional women’s FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup giant slalom next Tuesday (December 27), following this week’s cancellation in French resort Courchevel ©Getty Images

Austrian town Semmering will host an additional women’s International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Skiing World Cup giant slalom next week, following the cancellation of the race in French resort Courchevel on Tuesday (December 20).

The programme in Semmering will now comprise two giant slalom races, scheduled for Tuesday (December 27) and Wednesday (December 28), and a slalom race on Thursday (December 29).

The giant slalom in Courchevel was cancelled due to strong winds.

Action was initially postponed after 19 skiers had descended and a decision was made to re-start the race from scratch, with competitors beginning at the reserve start position 70 metres down the slope.

Skiers had inspected this start point in the morning - knowing it was a possibility - but the re-start never took place as winds remained consistently strong.

Italy's Sofia Goggia was leading before the cancellation ©Getty Images
Italy's Sofia Goggia was leading before the cancellation ©Getty Images

Sofia Goggia of Italy had been in the lead before the abandonment.

She has already finished on the podium six times this season, finishing second twice and third on four occasions.

American Mikaela Shiffrin leads the overall World Cup standings on 498 points, five clear of defending champion Lara Gut of Switzerland.

The giant slalom leaderboard is headed by France’s Tessa Worley on 240 points, with three races in the discipline completed this season.