PARIS (AFP) - The alpine skiing World Cup circuit opens this weekend at the Austrian resort of Soelden with American star Lindsey Vonn leading a host of skiers with one eye firmly set on Olympic glory.

The 2010 Winter Games fall in February 12-28, bissecting the season which sees the women race 34 competitions and the men 35 in 25 resorts in Europe and North America.

"From the first race in Soelden to the end of the selection period in January it'll be impossible to ignore qualifying for the Games," acknowledged Swiss men's head coach Martin Rufener.

"It's quite possible that this winter some skiers won't value the discipline standings in the same way as they might have done in another season."

Skiers might likely satisfy themselves with a top seven slot in a giant slalom for example with the aim of Olympic qualifying rather than risk injury by pushing for a higher finish in their bid for the crystal globes awarded for those who top the various disciplines.

Among the favourites for honours this season will be Vonn, the reigning overall women's champion who won two World Championship gold medals in the downhill and super-G in Val d'Isere in February this year.

The Colorado-based, Minnesota-born racer said she was aiming to add a giant slalom podium to her resume, having not finished higher than fourth in her career and ninth in the season opener in Soelden.

"It's on the list of goals for the season," said Vonn, who last season finished streets ahead of closest rivals Maria Riesch of Germany and Sweden's Anja Paerson. "But I do have a pretty long list.

"I can say that I'm feeling better than I ever have on my giant slalom skis. They felt so comfortable the first time I clicked into them in New Zealand and that hasn't changed.

"I still have some more testing to do to get everything right, but I'm ready for Soelden," said Vonn, who endured a disastrous, albeit brave, showing in the Turin Winter Games in 2006 when she crashed training for the downhill and could only manage an eighth-placed finish.

One of the stars of the World Championships in Val d'Isere was Swiss teenager Lara Gut but the double silver medallist is a major doubt for Vancouver and most of the World Cup circuit.

Gut, who also enjoyed three World Cup podium finishes last season, has undergone an operation on a hip injured in a training fall last month and is likely to be out for about three months.

The men's competition was last season sealed by towering Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who also claimed super-combined gold and super-G bronze at the worlds after rebounding from a horrific crash at Beaver Creek.

One skier Svindal and Swiss veteran and reigning downhill champion Didier Cuche will not be up against is Austrian legend Hermann Maier, who has retired after a glittering career that included four overall World Cup titles as well as two downhill, five Super-G and three giant slalom individual titles.

Swiss coach Rufener said Cuche had received a massive personal boost after his impressive world championship showing when he won super-G gold and downhill silver behind Canadian John Kucera.

"With that in the backpack, he's so confident," he said, adding that he hoped to see American maverick Bode Miller - now back in synch with the US team after a couple of seasons of self-imposed exile - return to the slopes as quickly as possible.

"He's a natural, such an excellent skier, that he can do it. Of course he's behind on the training, that's what I heard, but who knows how much he did on the physical side at home - you'll be surprised.

"It makes things interesting for the whole sport if he's back, and if he can fight with the best it'll be nice."

Other late starters to the season will be Austrian Marlies Schild (broken tibia) and Finland's Kalle Palander, who is still recovering from a training crash.

Italian Peter Fill has a stomach muscle problem and is due to hit the slopes in late November at the earliest while Switzerland's Daniel Albrecht, who was kept in an artificial coma for three weeks after a horrific crash last year, said he was unsure about when he would return to World Cup racing.