MARIBOR, Slovenia — Mikaela Shiffrin claimed a staggering 12th World Cup win of the season on Friday after finishing in a tie for first place alongside Slovakia's Petra Vlhova in the Maribor giant slalom.

Shiffrin held a 0.48-second lead after the first run, but the American lost time with sectors of the course shrouded in thick fog on her second run to finish level with Vlhova in a combined time of 2min 31.31sec.

The 23-year-old American, warming up for the start of the world championships in Sweden on Tuesday, is nearing former Swiss star Vreni Schneider's all-time record of 14 victories in a World Cup campaign.

For Vlhova, it was her fourth victory of the season having edged out two-time Olympic champion Shiffrin in last month's parallel slalom in Oslo and Flachau slalom.

France's Tessa Worley, third after the morning descent in Slovenia, was left to rue a costly error when well-placed on her second run as she tumbled down to ninth.

Shiffrin, who skipped last week's speed events in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, leads Vlhova by a commanding 596 points in the overall standings as she bids for a third straight big crystal globe, and is 81 points ahead of Worley in the giant slalom standings. — AFP