top of page
Writer's pictureRaúl Revuelta

Who to watch? Madonna di Campiglio Men's Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom

Madonna di Campiglio. Alpine Ski World Cup

The Men return to the Alpine Ski World Cup in 2025 with the legendary Night Slalom on the demanding "Canalone Miramonti" in Madonna di Campiglio. This is the fifth race of the Men’s Slalom season.

The renowned Italian event will kick off the "Month of Slalom Classics" in the Men’s Alpine Ski World Cup calendar, featuring races in Adelboden, Wengen, Kitzbühel, and Schladming.



January 8th Slalom / Men (Night Event) 17:45 CET 1st run 20:45 CET 2nd run


Competition in the Men's Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup is fierce. Since the start of the 2021-2022 winter season, 15 skiers -Henrik Kristoffersen (5), Manuell Feller (4), Clément Noël (4), Linus Strasser (3), Daniel Yule (3), Lucas Braathen (3), Timon Haugan (2), Atle Lie McGrath (2), Ramon Zenhäusern (2), Sebastian Foss-Solevåg, Johannes Strolz, Dave Ryding, Alexander Steen Olsen, Marco Schwarz, and Loic Meillard,- have won at least one Alpine Ski World Cup event.


Men's Slalom is still searching for a true dominant figure after the era of Marcel Hirscher. However, one team that has emerged as a leader is Norway, which has achieved remarkable results this season. In just four events, Norway has secured two wins, two-second places, and two third places. Additionally, Henrik Kristoffersen (270 points), the Slalom Crystal Globe winner in 2016, 2020 and 2022, is currently leading the Slalom standings ahead of Loic Meillard (245) and Clement Noel (240) in second and third respectively.

Kristoffersen finished second in Levi, sixth in Gurgl first in Val d'Isère, and fourth in Alta Badia.

Meillard secured third place in Levi, fifth in Gurgl, third in Val d'Isère, and second in Alta Badia.

Noel won the first two races in Levi and Gurgl. He did not start the Slalom in Val d'Isère after sustaining an injury during the Giant Slalom. He finished sixth in Alta Badia.

Atle Lie McGrath is fourth in the Slalom standings, finishing second in Val d'Isère and third in Gurgl and Alta Badia.


Clement Noel won the Slalom Season Opener in Levi. The Reigning Olympic Slalom Champion returned in Levi to the Top of the podium thanks to two sensational runs. After setting the best time in the first run, he maintained his lead with an impressive second run, only challenged by Henrik Kristoffersen's flawless second run. Loic Meillard completed the podium in third place.




A week after his victory in Levi, Finland, Clement Noel once again set the pace in the first run of the race in Gurgl, earning his second win of the season in the Slalom. The Frenchman successfully defended his lead against challenges from Swedish skier Kristoffer Jakobsen. In the end, he managed to hold off Jakobsen, finishing with a margin of +0.44 seconds, and Atle Lie McGrath, who finished +0.45 seconds behind.

Another victory would move Nöel to second place, tied with Noël Augert (13 wins) on the list of France’s most successful World Cup slalom skiers. Perrine Pelen holds the record with 15 wins.




In December, Henrik Kristoffersen achieved a remarkable victory, leading a Norwegian one-two finish on the podium at the Slalom World Cup in Val d'Isere. He beat his teammate Atle Lie McGrath by 0.52 seconds. Loic Meillard finished in third place 0.89 seconds behind.

The 30-year-old skier from Norway celebrated his 24th Slalom and his 31st Alpine Ski World Cup victory. It was his first win in Slalom in almost two years. On January 15, 2023, Kristoffersen celebrated his last Slalom World Cup victory in Wengen.

Noël has 12 World Cup Slalom victories and 26 podiums to his name. He ranks fourth in the all-time Men's list for the most World Cup Slalom wins, behind Ingemar Stenmark (40), Alberto Tomba (35), and Marcel Hirscher (32).




Timon Haugan won the last Slalom of 2024 in Alta Badia, his second triumph in the Alpine Ski World Cup. With his victory, he confirmed he is one of the most consistent Slalom racers in the World Cup. Except for Kitzbuehel (DNF2), and the season opener in Levi (he finished in 14th position) Haugan has finished in the Top-10 in every Slalom World Cup race since Palisades Tahoe in 2023. Last season he finished in third position in the Slalom standings.

Loic Meillard finished in second place, 1.13 seconds behind Haugan. Atle Lie McGrath rounded up the podium in third place 1.26 seconds off the pace.

Haugan gave Norway its 200th victory in the Alpine Ski World Cup. The Norwegian team set the pace again in the Slalom in Alta Badia. It's the Norwegians' second Slalom victory this season, after Henrik Kristoffersen's victory in Val d'Isere.



Last season Marco Schwarz won the last race of the Alpine Ski World Cup before Christmas in an illuminated and bubbling Madonna di Campiglio, filled with the enthusiasm of 15,200 spectators on the Canalone Miramonti. Thanks to a great second run the Austrian skier jumped from sixth place to the top of the podium of the Night Slalom in Madonna di Campiglio. He finished ahead of the leader of first-run leader Clement Noël (+0.25) and Dave Ryding (+0.39). Ryding became the oldest man to claim a Slalom World Cup podium finish at the age of 37 years and 17 days old.

The Austrian team celebrated a victory that had eluded them for six years since Marcel Hirscher's triumph in 2017.

Austria achieved a clean sweep in the Men’s Alpine Ski World Cup slalom in Madonna di Campiglio on December 19, 2000. Mario Matt finished first, followed by Heinz Schilchegger in second place and Rainer Schönfelder in third.


The 29-year-old made his comeback in Val d'Isère after recovering from his injury. He tore his cruciate ligament in the Downhill in Bormio in December 2023. After rehab, he suffered another setback in August when he suffered from disc problems and eventually had to undergo surgery. 354 days after his cruciate ligament injury, his ordeal came to an end but he did not finish the second run after finishing in 10th place on the first run. In Alta Badia, he failed to qualify for the second run.


Daniel Yule and Henrik Kristoffersen can become the second male alpine skier to win the World Cup Slalom at least four times in Madonna di Campiglio, after Ingemar Stenmark who won five times.

Daniel Yule claimed his first World Cup win in Slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, on December 22, 2018. He repeated victory in 2020, and 2022.

Kristoffersen has won three Slalom World Cup events in Madonna di Campiglio (2015, 2016, 2020). He finished in second place twice, in 2020 and 2022, and placed third once, in 2017.


Lucas Pinheiro Braathen can become the first Brazilian winner of a World Cup event in the Alpine Ski World Cup.

In the Giant Slalom at Beaver Creek on December 8, 2024, he made history by finishing second becoming the first Brazilian athlete to reach a World Cup podium in Alpine Skiing.

The complete list of countries that have claimed a World Cup victory in alpine skiing includes: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany (including West Germany), Great Britain, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia (including Yugoslavia) the Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

The last four countries to win its first-ever World Cup event in Alpine Skiing achieved this maiden win in the Slalom: Kalle Palander for Finland (Kitzbühel, January 2003), Šárka Strachová for Czech Republic (Aspen, January 2008), Veronika Velez-Zuzulová for Slovakia (Semmering, December 2012) and Dave Ryding for Great Britain (Kitzbühel, January 2022).


Defending Slalom Crystal Globe champion Manuel Feller won four of the 10 World Cup Slaloms last season, finishing inside the top five in the other six races. Feller started the Slalom season with two DNFs in Levi and Gurgl. He finished joint fourth with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in the Slalom in Val d’Isère. He finished in seventh place in Alta Badia.


In 2024, Linus Strasser won the Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom races in Kitzbühel and Schladming. The 32-year-old German skier became the first to achieve the Kitzbühel and Schladming double. He has won four times in Slalom in the World Cup.

Strasser finished in 7th position in the Slalom Opener held in Levi. He did not qualify for the second run in Gurgl, and did not finish (DNF) in Val d'Isere and Alta Badia.


The 26-year-old French skier Steven Amiez, who was leading after the first run in Val d'Isere did not finish the second run. In Alta Badia again failed to finish the second run. In Gurgl ultimately he finished in fourth position and narrowly missed the chance to add another podium finish to the Amiez family legacy. His father, Sébastien Amiez, had an impressive career, achieving ten podium finishes and one win in Slalom World Cup events between 1995 and 2001. In Levi, he was also in third position after the first run but finished in sixth place.

It has been 23 years since a Frenchman has won a World Cup slalom at Madonna di Campiglio, but Clement Noël is well placed to break the drought and equal compatriot Patrice Bianchi's 1992 triumph.

Comments


bottom of page