Hector produced two field-leading runs to claim the giant slalom win by 0.35sec.

Shiffrin, who was victorious at this venue yesterday, was third-quickest in the opening round, 0.34 behind Hector, 0.23 off the pace of French skier Tessa Worley and 0.05 ahead of Italy's Marta Bassino, the winner of last season's giant slalom crystal globe.

An excellent second-run showing lifted the United Sates' Shiffrin into first place with one skier left to descend, Hector. 

Yet Hector was not daunted by the presence of the Olympic champion atop the leaderboard, putting together another aggressive run and ultimately growing her advantage by 0.01. 

Bassino finished third, 0.60 back, and Worley was a further 0.08 behind in fourth place.

Petra Vlhová, the overall World Cup champion from Slovakia, completed the top five.

Hector's last win was also in giant slalom, coming six years and 359 days ago at Kühtai in Tirol in Austria. 

The 29-year-old had finished second yesterday.

Shiffrin's second-place finish extends her overall World Cup lead to 115 points over Italian speed specialist Sofia Goggia.

Vlhová is third in the overall standings, but a further 315 points behind Shiffrin.

The next six women's Alpine Ski World Cup races are all technical events, with Lienz in Austria next staging a giant slalom contest on December 28.