Odermatt wins giant slalom to seal World Cup overall title

The 25-year-old Swiss, who is also Olympic giant slalom champion, beat his great rival Aleksander Kilde Aamodt of Norway into second in the standings by almost 600 points.

In sunny, warm conditions on soft snow Odermatt made it two giant slalom victories in two days.

In Sunday's race, Odermatt beat Henrik Kristoffersen by 0.32 seconds and Alexis Pinturault was third at 0.70 seconds.

He was fastest on the first descent on Sunday but had to give it all as he pushed for the line.

"It's mad, I can hardly believe it," said Odermatt. "It was a huge struggle and I took a lot of risks going for the line."

Odermatt could now become just the second man to break the 2,000 points barrier after Hermann Maier 23 years ago.

He was delighted with winning the large Crystal Globe awarded for the World Cup overall title and attributed his success to his support team.

"I have a great team and they do a huge job. I was less nervous this year than I was last year," he said.

Odermatt also won the small Crystal Globe for the individual giant slalom event.

Going into the weekend he was already assured of the title when Kilde skipped the meeting in Slovenia ahead of the season finale in Andorra.

This season Odermatt, who won gold in the downhill and giant slalom at last month's world championships, won six giant slaloms.

The 6ft 2in blonde-haired rocket made his breakthrough at the Davos world championships in 2018 when he won four titles.

He then narrowly missed the overall World Cup title in 2021 before ascending to back-to-back successes.