Grospiron, Olympic moguls champion in 1992, stood down following a crisis meeting over the French alpine resort lack of financial resources.

Grospiron's decision to quit follows fears he expressed earlier this month that Annecy was falling behind its two rivals Munich and Pyeongchang due to a lack of financial support.

"The Supervisory Board acknowledged Edgar Grospiron's desire to step down as general director," the Annecy 2018 team said in a statement after a special meeting today during which they decided to increase their budget from €18 (£15 million/$24 million) to €20 million (£17 million/$26 million).

But the sum was still considered insufficient by Grospiron to kick-start Annecy's campaign after a faltering start.

Earlier this month France's International Olympic Committee (IOC) members Jean-Claude Killy and Guy Drut had both publicly criticised the bid's budget.

That led to a series of crisis meetings last week between Drut and French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno.

She refused to provide extra Government funding for the bid but did agree to try to help Annecy find new sponsors to cover the shortfall.

That, though, has clearly not been enough to placate Grospiron.

Christian Monteil, chairman of the Annecy 2018 Supervisory Board, claimed that Grospiron and the bid were parting on good terms.

"We have accepted his point of view," said Monteil.

"He will stay close to us to try and help with the transition.

"He hasn't slammed the door shut."

Monteil also insisted their financing was adequate.

"It's a question of finance," he said.

"I didn't want to commit us to more than €20 million (£17 million/$26 million)."

Among the main issues that Grospiron was upset about was Annecy's lack of promotion compared to Munich and Pyeongchang.

"Basically, we have not done enough to promote our bid internationally and we don't have a short-term solution," said Monteil.

In June, the IOC criticised the bid's spread-out venues, prompting Annecy 2018 to change their plans and concentrate the venues around Annecy and Chamonix.

"Of course it's very hard, we've never really been the favourite," said Monteil.

"We've never given up, we want to win [and] we won't give up."

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