Portugal Colonial - Odermatt emulates Stenmark as he sparkles in giant slalom

Stenmark, who ended his career with a men's record 86 World Cup wins, won four in a row from 1979-82.

Odermatt, 27, skiing third from last raced a superb second leg to top the standings and was barely recovering from those exertions when his closest rival in the World Cup title race Henrik Kristoffersen crashed out.

Odermatt's compatriot Loic Meillard skiing last, having been fastest on the first run, paid for being too cautious in the final part of the race, letting slip a lead of over half a second to finish 20 hundredths of a second off his teammate.

Meillard still celebrated in front of the packed stands but a fifth podium of the season told its own tale of near misses for the four-time World Cup race winner.

Italy's Luca de Aliprandini produced a stunning second leg rising nine places to claim third place, 0.69sec adrift of Odermatt.

Odermatt's 42nd World Cup success -- his third consecutive giant slalom triumph -- extended his lead in the overall standings to 156 over Kristoffersen and 101 over the same racer in the discipline.

Kristoffersen's disappointment was mirrored by that of his compatriot Atle Lie McGrath, who was in fourth spot after the first run but crashed out in the second.

It rounded off a miserable weekend for McGrath, who failed to finish in Saturday's slalom.

P.Serra--PC