Lake Louise, Canada  - Defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn was in command to win the opening downhill of the women's alpine World Cup ski season on Friday.

Vonn, who has already claimed a slalom World Cup victory in Levi, Finland last month, clocked 1 minute 26.10 seconds at Lake Louise, for a 0.61-second advantage over Italy's Nadia Fanchini.

Germany's Maria Riesch was third place, 0.69 seconds behind Vonn, for her second podium place this season. (dpa)