Meribel, France--Marcel Hirscher saw his lead atop the overall World Cup standings slashed by Kjetil Jansrud after the Norwegian won the downhill to pile the pressure on the Austrian.
Hirscher did not race in Wednesday's downhill in which victory handed Jansrud the discipline's crystal globe to go with the super-G title he claimed last week. It also cut Hirscher's lead over Jansrud to just 64 points.
But the Austrian, who has already claimed the giant slalom globe and is targetting a fourth straight overall World Cup title, will be back on the piste for Thursday's super-G in a bid to increase his advantage ahead of Saturday's giant slalom and the slalom on Sunday, his two preferred technical events.
Despite their season-long battle for World Cup supremacy, both Hirscher and Jansrud remain refreshingly modest and highly respectful of each other.
"Usually, when Kjetil races a downhill, I'm in front of the television watching," Hirscher said of his Norwegian arch-rival who excels more at the speed events of downhill and super-G than the Austrian's shorter events.
"If he has nothing to do on a Sunday when there's the slalom, I don't know if he watches, but I don't think it'a personal confrontation between us.
"He isn't a direct rival as such - I don't ski the same races as he does."
Hirscher added: "I'm in a good position, but it's not the final position. We'll see how I manage the situation and the pressure. It's not easy."
The Austrian, Jansrud said after winning the downhill on Wednesday, had the overall title "in his control".
"For me the overall is not decided and I'm going to fight until the end," Jansrud said. "It's not very sportsmanlike for me to wish him to fail so I can win.
"My thoughts are more on myself and trying to ski as fast as I can, and we'll see what happens. Marcel's been skiing well all year and he's deserved the overall."
The healthy respect was also displayed after Hirscher raced to a startling win the giant slalom in Garmisch earlier this month, his winning distance over the two legs of more than three seconds virtually unheard of in professional ski racing.
"So, it seems everyone needs to go home and train some Giant Slalom. Holy Moly @MarcelHirscher that was immense," Jansrud tweeted at the time.
Hirscher admitted that his giant slalom "is much better, easier".
"In slalom this season, we don't know why sometimes I'm fast, then not. Slalom remains a bit of a surprise package!"
"The overall title remains my number one goal," Hirscher said. "I'm so close to it, I want to win it.
AFP
