ASPEN, Colo. (AP) – Competing for the first time since tearing a knee ligament and breaking her wrist in a race last January, Kirsten Clark finished 28th Friday in a World Cup giant slalom.

Clark, of Raymond, Maine, fought nerves on her first run and was tentative the last half of her second, but still achieved her goal of a top-30 finish.

“Definitely, first run my nerves were a lot more than on my second run,” Clark said. “A little disappointed with my second run; I thought I skied well, but maybe I was little too cautious.”

Friday’s race was the only U.S. stop for women on the World Cup tour.

Meanwhile, figuring she had no chance of catching the leader, Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen charged down the hill without fear.

It worked out pretty well.

Poutiainen made up more than a half-second on her second run for a World Cup victory, edging Sweden’s Anja Paerson by .09 seconds. It was her second World Cup victory.

“At the start of the second run, I really didn’t think I’d win today,” Poutiainen said. “Full attack was the only way for me to go today.”

Trailing Croatia’s Janica Kostelic by .6 seconds after her first run, Poutiainen didn’t hold back on her second run at Aspen Mountain. She finished with a two-run total of 2 minutes, 12.49 seconds, adding the giant slalom title to her win in a slalom last February in Finland.

“I feel very happy about it,” said Poutiainen, who finished second to Paerson in the World Cup season opener in Austria on Oct. 23. “It’s a big step for me.”

Kostelic, a two-time World Cup overall champion who won three gold medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, appeared to be headed toward her first victory in nearly two years with a stellar first run.

Fighting through driving snow and choppy conditions, Kostelic finished the first run in 1:05.92 in just her second race in 19 months after having her thyroid gland removed and several knee surgeries.

But with visibility much better and the course running smoother, Kostelic couldn’t keep up on the second run with Poutiainen and Paerson. Skiing last on the second run, Kostelic went wide on one of the final turns to finish third overall.

“I’m not in any hurry,” Kostelic said. “I just came back and there’s a lot of time left.”

Paerson appears to have picked up where she left off last year, when she won the giant slalom and slalom season titles.

She won the giant slalom in the season opener in Austria last month by .32 seconds and is tied with Poutiainen for the early season overall points lead with 180.

“I really thought I had it, but she (Poutiainen) was skiing great,” Paerson said.

Kristina Koznick was the top American, finishing 24th – 3.69 seconds off the lead.

Liechtenstein’s Jessica Walter had to be taken off the course on a sled on the first run after getting too far inside on one of the gates and hitting her forehead. She tumbled backward after the impact spun her around, and was on the course for several minutes while medical personnel strapped her to the sled.

Walter was taken to a hospital with a knee injury, and was being evaluated.