Eguibar’s pursuit of a second World Cup win of his career had begun in impressive fashion after winning his opening heat of the day, but he narrowly scrapped through the quarter-finals after placing third.

However he put that result behind him to secure an impressive semi-final ahead of the United States’ Nick Baumgartner.

The two men were in contention for victory on the Piste de L'Ours course, but faced a strong challenge from Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle in the closing stages of the race, leading to a three-way photo finish on the line.

Ultimately Eguibar was awarded the victory, while Baumgartner settled for second place in the six-man final over Haemmerle.

“I'm super happy, today's race was pretty tough,” said Eguibar, who also achieved his only over World Cup win at the venue last year.

“I had some good starts over the course of the day but I always had to fight my way through the field.

“It was really tight every time.”

Although Haemmerle claimed a podium finish, it would not prove enough to prevent Vaultier from sealing his fourth World Cup crown.

The Frenchman had all but earned the title after finishing second in yesterday final and although he was eliminated early in today’s proceedings, eventually ending 25th, he moved onto a tally of 4,640 points.

It meant that Haemmerle would not be able to surpass his tally, regardless of the result of the final event in Baqueira Beret on March 19, as the Austrian is 1,200 points behind heading into the competition at the Spanish venue.

The women’s event saw Italy’s Michela Moioli earn victory ahead of four-time world champion Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States.

France’s Nelly Moenne Loccoz crossed the line in third position, while the Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova ended just outside the podium places.

As a consequence Samkova lost her overall World Cup lead to Moioli, with the Italian now 390 points ahead of her rival on 4,650 points ahead of the final event.