Sarrazin’s previous best World Cup result was a 24th place finish but he took advantage of errors from some of the more high-profile skiers at the event to top the podium.

In what proved to be a thrilling night race, Sarrazin crossed the line 0.01sec in front of nearest challenger and former overall champion Carlo Janko of Switzerland in the single-run final to secure a famous win.

Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud, who won the gold medal in the super-G event at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, edged compatriot Leif Kristian Haugen to clinch third.

It proved to be another disappointing outing in Alta Badia for current overall Alpine Skiing World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria as he was beaten in the first round by France’s Steve Missillier.

The four-time world champion and Sochi 2014 silver medallist also suffered the same fate during the corresponding event in the 2015 to 2016 season.

Hirscher remains in pole position at the summit of the leaderboard despite his early exit in Italy as he has a total of 553 points.

Jansrud was able to close the gap slightly following his third-place result but he is still some way adrift of the Austrian, trailing by 171 points on 382.

Alexis Pinturault of France, who earned giant slalom bronze at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city, could only manage ninth place today but still sits third on 313.

The competition required six runs for victory as athletes were driven back to the start of the tricky course following each attempt.

The men’s Alpine Skiing World Cup series resumes in Italy on Thursday (December 22) with a slalom race in Madonna di Campiglio.