Hirscher back on top in sunny Adelboden 

The Austrian won the event in Switzerland for the third time in his career, beating Sweden's Andre Myhrer by 0.29 seconds, with Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen 0.66 seconds behind in third place.

“It is really a tough hill, but it is always amazing to ski here in Adelboden,” Hirscher said after a day of blazing sunshine in the Alps.

“I have to say as tough as it was to ski the course today, I can’t imagine how hard it was to prepare the course with the temperatures over 10 degrees. That was definitely not easy, so thank you to the team who made it possible.”

Myhrer was delighted to be on the podium.

"It has always been a tough race for me, so to get a podium today is really great for me," he said.

"It was a fight all the way down, but I had a pretty good feeling. It's good to get some confidence before Sochi, but we have three more races before that, so my focus is on those."