KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia: France’s Alexis Pinturault claimed Friday’s giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, his third World Cup win in the discipline in a week and fourth in a row.

The 24-year-old was following up his giant slalom wins at Hinterstoder last weekend and in Japan in February for his 15th overall World Cup success.

Already in control after the first leg, Pinturault timed 1min 52.18sec to beat Austrian duo Philipp Schoerghofer and Marcel Hirscher by 47 and 69 hundredths of a second.

“Victory always generates a special feeling,” said Pinturault.

“It was difficult but there was a happy end.”

On his chances of landing the giant slalom title he said: “You have to remain mentally strong.”

In the overall World Cup standings, Hirscher edged closer to a record fifth consecutive Crystal Globe. He is now 293 points clear of young Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who took fourth on Friday.

With two giant slaloms of the season remaining, Hirscher leads the standings in the discipline by 91 points from Pinturualt.

Only French skiing legend Jean-Claude Killy has managed to win four consecutive giant slaloms, in the 1966-67 season.