updated 10:43 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2009

TARVISIO, Italy - Lindsey Vonn has her priorities in order.

She had a chance at setting a U.S. women’s record for World Cup victories in Friday’s super-combi. She also had a slim shot at catching Anja Paerson for the season’s super-combi title.

Instead, Vonn concentrated on her main goal — defending her overall World Cup title.

After leading the downhill portion of the race by a large margin over good friend Maria Riesch, Vonn skied conservatively in the slalom leg and Riesch jumped ahead for the victory.

“I’m just trying to ski solid right now. The main thing for me is the overall,” Vonn said. “Obviously I’m out there trying to win every race I can, but it also helps just to get to the finish sometimes and have a solid performance.”

Riesch won in a combined time of 2 minutes, 18.57 seconds. Vonn finished second, 0.49 behind, and Kathrin Zettel of Austria was third, 2.03 back.

Vonn leads the overall standings with 1,194 points, Riesch is next with 1,035 and Paerson is third with 900.

Paerson finished fifth and won the discipline title with 205 points. Vonn was second with 180 points and Zettel was third with 162.

Vonn remained tied with Tamara McKinney for the U.S. record with 19 victories each, but she has two more shots at the mark in Saturday’s downhill and Sunday’s super-G.

“I could have risked a little bit more and maybe won today, but there would have been a higher risk of not finishing,” Vonn said. “Tomorrow and Sunday are two days where I’m definitely looking to win, so hopefully one of those days could be the day.”

Vonn skied with a splint on her surgically repaired right thumb, which she sliced open on a broken champagne bottle after sweeping the speed races at the recently concluded world championships in Val d’Isere, France.

“The starts are what hurt the most. It’s tough because all the starts here are very, very flat — especially in the slalom,” she said. “It wasn’t my most powerful start, but I tried my best. I was happy with both runs.”

Vonn planned to have the four stitches in her thumb removed Friday at the team hotel.

“Maybe I’ll have a little bit more feeling and a little better start,” she said.

Vonn also held a commanding lead after the downhill in the super-combi at worlds, then was disqualified from the slalom leg for splitting a gate. After her injury, she fell in the second run of the slalom in Val d’Isere.

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“In slalom anything can happen, and today Lindsey was skiing smart,” said Vonn’s husband and chief adviser, Thomas. “It wasn’t a full-gas second run and it wasn’t planned to be. Today was thinking about the overall title.”

Vonn still had a bit of a bobble, falling after she crossed the finish line in the downhill leg when she looked up at the scoreboard. She was not injured.

“That was a healthy fall,” Thomas said, “But we’re going to try not to do that tomorrow.”

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