Giant of Alta Badia | First podium for a superb Léo Anguenot only beaten by Marco Odermatt

Glory day for Léo Anguenot! While he had never done better than 13th in the World Cup, the talented Frenchman confirmed everything we thought of him by delivering a huge performance to take 2nd place from the legendary Giant of Alta Badia . Ninth in the first round, Anguenot had already done well but he raised the bar even higher in the second. Only Marco Odermatt, also huge with the best time in the second round, was able to beat him. What emotion!

No one saw this one coming. Neither the World Cup followers, nor himself, probably. In good shape and impressive in training, Leo Anguenot has so far struggled to show the full extent of his talent. This time he succeeded and largely. Already author of a superb first round to place himself (9th at 0''84 from Filip Zubcic), the Frenchman dared to play his card to the fullest, without worrying about a track which had broken terribly and the conditions which did not stopped deteriorating, to the point that snow ended up falling on the last passages. Nothing to bother the Habs.

On the attack from the first gates, aggressive, aerial, the Frenchman seemed to be flying on the Gran Risa compared to the skiers passing around him, like Atle Lie McGrath (6th, + 1''25) and from Henrik Kristoffersen (9th, + 1''99) unable to avoid scoring under the gate. More fluid, lighter, Anguenot never seemed bothered by the terrain to light up the green and, for the first time in his career, occupy the “Hot seat” for a long time. And multiply the firsts: first top 10 assured upon crossing the line, first top 5 after the failure of Timon Haugan (5th at 1''03) and finally first podium after Steen Olsen's “miss”. Victory had already eluded him.

As was already the case in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (x2), Marco Odermatt is the king of Alta Badia. As is often the case with the Swiss, he added style, dominating the competition head and shoulders. After a confident but cautious first round (3rd at 0''19 from Filip Zubcic), the world and Olympic champion of the discipline let the horses loose during the second, attacking each curve, cutting as short as possible and releasing early under the door. A technical and physical demonstration to set the best time in the second round, taking almost two seconds from Kristoffersen, who started in similar conditions.

A feat that the Swiss never ceases to trivialize, he who offered himself the 41st victory of his career, the 25th as a giant. And here he is already leader of the World Cup in the specialty, despite two zeros to start. Just huge.

In the wake of Leo Anguenot, Thibaut Favrot reacted perfectly after a failed first round (27th) to sign the big comeback in the second (17 places gained) and achieve a superb top 10 (10th at 2''11). It was more complicated for Alexis Pinturault (23rd, +3''00), guilty of a big mistake entering the final dish, and for Diego Orecchioni (27th, +3''27), who nevertheless scored his first points in the World Cup.