Bochet's unbeaten streak almost came to an end as her long-time rival Andrea Rothfuss of Germany unexpectedly outpaced the world and Paralympic champion in the first run.

Rothfuss' quick opening time of 1min 2.08sec harked back to the days of the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio in Italy. 

Then in her top form, she took two victories from Bochet, including in giant slalom, but has since struggled to mount the same challenge.

Beating Rothfuss in the second run, the Frenchwoman ultimately won by an uncharacteristically small margin of 0.28 seconds with a time of 2:07.20.

"I didn’t ski my best," Bochet said of her first run.

"I couldn't find my confidence, my trust in myself, so I ski correct, but it's not very good.

"That meant I needed to trust more in myself for the second one and to find something more in myself.

"Andrea helped me to find something more in myself."

Another German skier, Anna-Maria Rieder, finished third in 2:12.54. 

The women’s sitting race was expected to be a fight between Muraoka and Germany's Anna-Lena Forster, as it had been in the earlier super-G races in Veysonnaz and at the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Sella Nevea and Kranjska Gora.

But Australia's Victoria Pendergast had other ideas and surprised herself with the top time in the field in the first run, clocking 1:05.67.

While Momoka beat her in the second run to take the gold medal in 2:14.18, Pendergast still savoured a silver medal-winning finish in 2:16.48 with Forster third in 2:17.41. 

In the men's sitting event, world champion Jeroen Kampschreur of The Netherlands scored another victory in Veysonnaz, trumping Paralympic champion in the discipline, Norway's Jesper Pedersen, on his way to winning in a time of 1:58.53 and closing the gap to his rival in overall World Cup points.

Pedersen finished second in 1:59.73, just ahead of another surprise medallist of the day, Christoph Kunz of Switzerland..

Kunz, who has the highest level of impairment in his class, was second after the first run and ultimately came third in 2:01.33. 

France's Arthur Bauchet claimed his third men's standing victory over Switzerland's Theo Gmur in a standout rivalry that has added extra punch to the World Cup in Veysonnaz.

Gmur held the lead after the first run and looked poised to avenge his second place at the World Championships last month, but Bauchet's second run was tough to beat and he triumphed overall by 0.14 seconds with a time of 1:52.41.

Austria's Markus Salcher collected the bronze medal in 1:55.29.

The Slovakian domination in the men's visually impaired class continued with Miroslav Haraus and Marek Kubacka taking the top two spots on the podium in 1:59.75 and 2:01.57 respectively. 

For Haraus and his guide Maros Hudik, this was a fourth straight victory after their hat-trick in the World Cup's earlier super-G competition.

World champion Kubacka and his guide Maria Zatovicova came away with the silver medal for a boost of confidence after their two uncompleted super-Gs.

France's Thomas Civade and guide Kerwan Larmet were third in 2:04.81.

After an early missed gate in super-G the previous day that forced them to abandon the race, Australia's Melissa Perrine and guide Bobbi Kelly regained their flow in the women's visually impaired. 

The pair, who were the sole competitors, had a strong first run and sailed comfortably over the finish line to secure the first giant slalom World Cup points of the season.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow with the second giant slalom races.