Hirscher leaves Are with double win

The three-times World Cup champion won Sunday's slalom in the same fashion as he had won Saturday's giant slalom to dislodge Norway's Kjetil Jansrud at the top of the overall standings on 440 points.

It was Hirscher's 26th World Cup victory, putting him on par with downhill great Franz Klammer, but also his 14th in slalom, level with Benjamin Raich and Mario Matt, the most successful Austrian specialists up to now.

"I'm more than happy, I'm super happy. It's like Christmas right now. Who would have believed in a double victory here?" said the Austrian, who was trailing Jansrud by 172 points at the beginning of the weekend.

"I can only be satisfied I made it down the slope in the first run as I nearly went out. The second was not my best or my worst. I think I just made fewer mistakes than Felix," he added.

While his giant slalom victory the previous day was overwhelming, Hirscher this time only narrowly beat rival and best friend Felix Neureuther of Germany, by 0.10 seconds.

The surprise came from Russia's Alexander Khoroshilov, who earned his first World Cup podium, 0.05 behind Neureuther.

"I'm not surprised at all by Alexander. He has been doing very well for years in first runs and it was only a matter of tile before he delivered in both legs," Hirscher said.

Khoroshilov's performance revived memories of the talented Alexander Zhirov, winner of four races in 1981 before being sidelined by injury. Called 'a genius' by Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark, Zhirov died in a car crash in 1983.