The German is in remarkable form and has come either first or second in all but the first two races so far.

His success in both course races and slaloms see him open up a 26-point gap over second place Luuc Opzeeland of The Netherlands.

Opzeeland managed to stay close to Koerdel as he recorded three podiums but threw it away in the final challenge of the stay, crossing the line in 17th.

He has already used his three discards on worse results so cannot avoid to slip up again if he is to secure a medal.

Clément Bourgeois currently makes up the top three on 44 points.

The Frenchman surged to the top end of the table with three podiums, while the only blip was a 23rd-place finish in the third race which was discarded.

Nicolò Renna of Italy had a catastrophic day as he fell from second to 14th on 83 points with 39th, 21st, 17th, and 31st-place finishes.

In the women's event, The Netherlands' Lilian de Geus jumped into pole position on 29 points as she picked up top-three results in all four events.

Israel's Shahar Tibi, meanwhile, is in second with 35 points while Spaniard Pilar Lamadrid Trueba follows close behind on 38.

Yesterday's leader, Emma Wilson of Britain, dropped to fifth.

She had a dreadful start to the day after coming 17th in the opener before a fifth and discarded 23rd-place results proceeded a redeeming win at the last chance.

Wilson finds herself 11 points off the pace with two more days of competition remaining in France.