Five-time overall champion Hirscher found himself in seventh place after the first run, 1.02 seconds behind leader Ryding, but finished the race 0.76 seconds ahead in a time of 1:45.23sec to ensure his 20th career slalom win.

Ryding’s second-place finish emulated that of fellow Briton Konrad Bartelski, who finished runner-up in a downhill in Italian resort Val Gardena in December 1981.

"Hats off to Marcel, he was untouchable on that second run," Ryding, whose best previous performances were a sixth and seventh place, was reported as saying by Sky Sports.

"If the season stopped now, I'd be over the moon.

"I'll just keep trying, that's all I can do."

Russia’s Alexander Khoroshilov was 1.11 seconds off the pace in third, while slalom World Cup champion Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway did not finish his first run.

Kristoffersen is second in the overall standings and now trails leader Hirscher by 388 points.

France’s Alexis Pinturault, 10th today, is a further 11 points back in third.

There was also women’s super-G action in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany today as Switzerland’s Lara Gut claimed her third win of the season in the discipline in as many races.

The defending overall champion, who has also won this campaign in Lake Louise in Canada and at French resort Val-d'Isère, clocked a time of 1:17.92 to beat nearest challenger Stephanie Venier of Austria by 0.67 seconds.

Lichtenstein’s Tina Weirather was 0.86 seconds behind in third.

"It's cool to have won the three super-G races, but every time it's a new race," Gut told AFP.

"I didn't ski like I had wanted to.

"It was a tough race, but it was nice to get the win."

Victory completed a good weekend for Gut, who finished second to American Lindsey Vonn in yesterday’s downhill.

She is now just 135 points behind overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States.

Slalom specialist Shiffrin did not compete today, while compatriot Vonn finished ninth in her third race since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off.