Fenninger's triumph represented her first World Cup victory of the season and her fifth overall.

The Austrian skier clocked a combined time of 2min 17sec to beat Sweden's Jessica Lindell-Vikarby by half a second with America's reigning slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin a further 0.01 second adrift.

"I can't explain why I am successful on that specific day," Fenninger said.

"It's just amazing to win again.

"I have good memories of my fist victory here and it helps a bit for sure.

"I really love Lienz and the slope."

Fenninger moved into second place in the overall standings behind Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather, who was a distant 17th.

Anna Fenninger (centre) wins the giant slalom event on the exact same date for the third successive year ©Getty Images



"I was a bit disappointed with my last giant slalom results," said Fenninger, on the podium for the first time in five giant slalom races this season.

"We had a lot of speed events recently and I didn't get much time to train my giant slalom skills.

"I didn't know I could be able to win today but I was ready to give it all.

"It is just great it turned out to be such a big day for me.

"Winning in front of a home crowd makes it very special for sure."

Lindell-Vikarby is the clear leader in the giant slalom standings on 332 points, 110 ahead of compatriot Maria Pietilae-Holmner.

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