Gut-Behrami, the last woman other than Mikaela Shiffrin to claim a women's overall title, clocked 1min 27.11sec to edge out compatriot Corinne Suter.

Suter finished 0.80 seconds adrift of her 28-year-old team-mate, while Stephanie Venier of Austria did enough for third after recording a time of 1:28.03.

"Sometimes, I’ve been struggling with myself and putting myself under pressure because I wanted to do it again," Gut-Behrami said.

"Then I started thinking, and then I made mistakes."

Three-time defending World Cup champion and overall leader Shiffrin continued her absence from the circuit following the death of her father.

Two athletes - Italian Federica Brignone and Slovakia's Petra Vlhová - made gains on the formidable American following their performances today.

Slalom specialist Vlhová earned her career-best downhill result of fourth, while Brignone was tied for seventh.

The result for the Italian saw her move 77 points behind Shiffrin in the race for the overall crown.

Shiffrin, a double Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion, leads on 1,225 points, with Brignone second on 1,148.

Vlhová, who only ever started one World Cup downhill until last month, occupies third on 1,121 after earning 50 valuable points.

Overall downhill leader Suter can seal her first crystal globe in tomorrow's downhill on the same course.

Crans-Montana is hosting an extra downhill to replace the cancelled race in Sochi at the start of this month.