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Swiss skier Marco Odermatt edged surprise first-run leader Roland Leitinger of Austria by 7-100ths of a second Sunday to win the season-opening men's World Cup giant slalom.

Alpine skiing heads into its Olympic season this weekend with the first World Cup races of a 37-event schedule that looks more balanced than in previous years.

Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, Slovakia's Petra Vloha and American Mikaela Shiffrin were the the three leading the way in prize money earnings on the Alpine skiing World Cup circuit this season according to the International Ski Federation.

Rising from sixth place after the first run in a World Cup slalom, Manuel Feller won the season-ending race on Sunday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, beating Clement Noel of France by 8-100ths of a second.

More ski races were cancelled Thursday because of bad weather, leaving Petra Vlhova as the favourite to win her first overall World Cup title ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami.

Austrian Marco Schwarz won gold in the men's Alpine combined race in Italy on Monday. The win makes it the first time the Austrian team has won the first three men's events at the worlds.

American Ted Ligety was going to retire Feb. 19 after the giant slalom at the skiing world championships but woke up to severe back pain Friday and announced on Instagram a day later a scan revealed his back was "herniated to the point it's not safe to ski right now."

The start of the skiing world championships has been pushed back to Thursday after heavy snow, fog and a bad forecast wiped out the races scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Vincent Kriechmayr extended his lead in the season's super-G standings on Saturday by winning the last World Cup race before the world championships while James Crawford of Toronto was 19th to lead a four-man Canadian contingent.

Henrik Kristoffersen showed glimpses of his best slalom skills Sunday, holding on to his first-run lead as he battled his way through the ruts for his second World Cup victory before the world championships.