Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who leads the Alpine skiing World Cup standings, has finally admitted that the challenge for the overall World Cup trophy is preying on his mind.

The 24-year-old skier had previously insisted that he was not even considering the title. Now he is calling it the sport's greatest prize, bigger than Olympic gold.

"If you say you're not thinking about it at all then I think you're trying to fool yourself," Svindal told reporters in Wengen where he is looking to extend his 68-point lead over Switzerland's Didier Cuche in the weekend's races.

"Of course when you keep getting questions about it and you see the standings then you have to think about it a bit.

"I might not win it this year and I might never win it, but I think it's the greatest thing you can win as a skier. An Olympic gold medal is great but if you win the World Cup overall, then you were the best skier that season."

Svindal has had to live with high expectations since proving his all-round prowess with four medals in the downhill, super-G, slalom and combined events at the 2002 junior world championships.

He announced his presence on the senior circuit last season when he celebrated his first two World Cup wins and briefly held the overall leader's spot.

TITLE FAVOURITE

With two further victories under his belt this season, the Norwegian has now won four races in different disciplines and has risen from possible contender to one of the favourites for the overall title.

"It helps that I was leading for a little while last year too, so I know what it's all about," Svindal said. "The more you hear people saying that you are going to win the overall, the easier it gets because it starts to go in one ear and out the other.

"It will be hard not to think about the overall if the standings are like they are now when we go into the final (week of the season). But there are still so many points left at this stage and I guess I'll need something like double the points I have now to win it."

Svindal's climb to the top of the rankings has come at an ideal time for the Norwegian team rocked by the retirement of their two most successful skiers.

Last week, Kjetil Andre Aamodt announced he was hanging up his skis at the age of 36, less than a year after his team mate Lasse Kjus made the same decision.

Between them, the two Norwegians had amassed 36 Olympic and world championship medals over 15 years. Svindal said he would miss the company but would not let their departure upset him.

"It's probably a bigger deal for (other) people than it is for me," said Svindal when asked about his new role as the sole bearer of Norwegian hopes in the sport.

"Aamodt and Kjus are great guys and I appreciated having them around for as long as I did but this is a one-man sport.

"You travel around the world together and you need good friends around you but those two minutes when you actually ski are all about you."