DAVE Ryding had to settle for 22nd place in the latest round of the Audi FIS Slalom World Cup after finishing down the field in Adelboden.

The Chorley ace headed to Switzerland on the back of a seventh placed finish at Madonna di Campio in Italy - his best result of the season so far - but could not replicate that performance at the Swiss resort on Sunday.

The 33-year-old is 18th overall after five races.

In Adelboden, Ryding clocked a combined time of 1minute 50.23seconds - 1.50secs slower than eventual winner Daniel Yule of Switzerland - much to the delight of the partisan home crowd.

In his first run, Ryding recorded 54.51secs which he was unable to better second time around, getting down in 55.72secs.

Ryding’s best performance to date came four days earlier on the slopes of Madonna di Campio.

On run one, he clocked 48.55secs to put himself in contention for a podium place and while he bettered that second time with 48.39secs, the Pendle Ski Club member had to settle for joint seventh place with Slovakia’s Stefan Hadalin - Yule once again taking the honours.

But Ryding, who finished in fourth place on the same course last year, was clearly delighted with his performance, taking to social media to say: “Yes!...seventh. You’ve got to love Madonna di Campiglio! Really happy to be back at the business end of the result list!”

However, Ryding is yet to hit the heady heights of last season where he finished in second place in Oslo - and eighth place overall - a result he also achieved the previous season in Kitzbuehel in Austria.

They were the highest podium finishes by a British skier since Konrad Bartelski finished in second place in Val Gardena, Italy in 1981.

This season, Ryding crashed out in the opening race in Levi, Finland before following up with a 17th place in Val d’isere and 18th in Zagreb.

He remains in Switzerland for the sixth round of the World Cup which takes place in Wengen at the weekend.