Hirscher's combined time of 2min 20.46sec saw him finish 0.68 seconds behind Olympic bronze medallist Pinturault and 0.25 in front of Frenchman Thomas Fanara, who completed the podium.

The result means the four-time world champion now has an unassailable lead at the top of the giant slalom standings, with one race to spare and sees him claim his first title in the discipline since 2012.

The United States' Ted Ligety, winner of the giant slalom crown in four of the last five years, finished fourth on the day.

"This is the first time since the change in the ski rules that I've caught the globe in GS," said Hirscher.

"For me, it was two years with a lot of thinking and disappointment against Ted.

"I was 2.7 seconds behind Ted in the first race with the longer skis.

"We realised that we are so far away from Ted and that was the beginning of a long way and a lot of work, a lot of test and some different setup things.

"Many people worked really hard for this success."

Austria's Marcel Hirscher is on course to retain the overall Alpine Skiing World Cup title after finishing second at the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Kranjska Gora ©Getty Images


Pinturault's second World Cup win of the season moves him 33 points above Ligety into second place in the standings.

The Frenchman clocked times of 1:09.48 and 1:10.30 in his first and second runs respectively to end Hirscher's four race winning streak. 

"This year, it was really tough to beat Marcel and I finally did it," said Pinturault. 

"I'm really happy."

Hirscher still remains extremely well positioned to retain the overall World Cup crown having increased his lead over Norway's Kjetil Jansrud, 23rd in Kranjska Gora, to 124 points.

The 26-year-old will look to tighten his grip on top spot when he competes in the slalom tomorrow, before turning his attention to the season-ending World Cup Finals in Méribel, France from March 16 to 22.

"It's not possible to win the overall globe if you're skiing bad in one discipline - you have to have two really good disciplines," added Hirscher.

"If I had to choose, I would say I prefer retaining the big globe compared to winning back the giant slalom one, definitely.

"But it is also really nice to have the GS globe.

"It gives me extra power for the next races so I hope the two can go hand in hand."

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