The 45th World Cup season began on 23 October 2010, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 20 March 2011, at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.[1]
The season saw the introduction of a new event to the World Cup, the city event. The race in parallel giant slalom took place in Munich, Germany.[2]
The overall titles were won by Maria Riesch of Germany and Ivica Kostelić of Croatia; both skiers winning their first overall crowns. Kostelić secured his overall victory several races before the end of the season while Riesch and Lindsey Vonn of the United States were close together before the finals at Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Riesch had a significant lead after the World Championship but Vonn caught up and took the lead before the last slalom race. Slovenia's Tina Maze won her first slalom in that race, Riesch's fourth place compared to Vonn's thirteenth gave her a three-point advantage.[3] The cancellation of the last race – one of four to be cancelled at Lenzerheide – meant that Riesch won the title.[4]
^"Soelden: Men's race canceled due to fog". FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Fédération Internationale de Ski. 24 October 2010. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010. A thick fog settled onto the Rettenbach glacier in Soelden following the first run of the race Sunday and officials determined that visibility was too poor to go through with the second run. Thus, the race was canceled and will not be rescheduled.
^"Second downhill in Kvitfjell". FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Fédération Internationale de Ski. 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010. The cancelled Men's Downhill from Beaver Creek (USA) will be replaced on Friday, 11. March 2011 in Kvitfjell (NOR). The organizers in Kvitfjell take over once more a World Cup race that was canceled somewhere else.
^ abc"Maria Riesch on a winning streak". FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Fédération Internationale de Ski. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011. It comes a bit as a surprise that Maria Riesch increased the lead in the overall Cup standings, 1516-1320 over American Lindsey Vonn, leaving Are with a 196 point lead. She also scored the same 1516 of Cup points last year, just this year there are nine events left on the calendar!
^"Final ladies GS in Lenzerheide canceled; men's slalom delayed". FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Fédération Internationale de Ski. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011. Per FIS rules, canceled races at World Cup Finals will not be rescheduled. This is because in a case such as that in Lenzerheide, in which weather conditions force the cancelation of more than one race, there are no reserve days to ensure that all canceled races will be rescheduled and officials point out that it would be unfair to reschedule one race and not another.
Ivica Kostelić
Maria Riesch
Didier Cuche
Lindsey Vonn
Marlies Schild
Manuela Mölgg
Levi
Tessa Worley
Maria Pietilä Holmner
Lake Louise
Tina Maze
Veronika Zuzulová
Špindlerův Mlýn
