Four races, four podiums including two victories, for a total of 320 points out of 400 possible: it is an understatement to say that the last two stages, in Sankt Anton (Austria) and Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy), smiled on Federica Brignone .
The Italian is the skier in good shape of the moment. She has perhaps never been so strong in her entire career, seventeen years after her debut on the world circuit. In nine days, she broke some bad habits: at the age of 34, she won her first downhill in Sankt Anton and scored her first success on Sunday in Cortina, in super-G this time, on her 30th attempt on the track. of the 2026 Olympics.She reinvented herselfwelcomed former skier Deborah Compagnoni in the columns of La Gazzetta dello Sport. She has never skied like this, it is one of the greatest victories of her career.”
The versatile Valdotaine, on the podium in downhill, super-G and giant, can aim for her first globe of world N.1: almost halfway through the season – Kronplatz (Plan de Corones in Italian) is the 17th race of winter out of a total of 35 -, she is 106 points ahead of the Swiss Camille Rast. “To achieve this, I will have to continue skiing as I did today (Sunday), free in my head“, she warned after her 31st World Cup victory.
Hector and leader
“I feel proud of what I didadded Brignone. I’ve been hoping for this result for a long time, and getting it is a great satisfaction. I absolutely wanted to get on the podium in Cortina, and these two days are really very important for my career. Versatility has always been my goal since I was little, and to have won three different disciplines in the same winter is really worth a lot. The season is progressing very well (…) I know it won’t be easy to continue like this. This is precisely why I don’t think about the ranking, I prefer to aim race after race.”
This winter, as a giant, it’s all or nothing for the Italian: she won in Sölden and Semmering (Austria) and did not reach the finish in Killington (United States) and Kranjska Gora (Slovenia). ). Absent in Sankt Anton and Cortina, Rast, her runner-up in the general classification, can hope to limit the damage, or even reduce the gap. More comfortable in slalom (two victories), the surprise skier of the winter is not clumsy in giant either, as shown by her 3rd place in Killington at the end of November.
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Video credit: Eurosport
But Brignone’s main rival in the Dolomites resort should be the Swede Sara Hector who is clearly ahead of her (96 points more) in the World Cup rankings for the specialty. The giant 2022 Olympic champion, 3rd in the general classification at 132 points from the lead, also won twice this winter (Killington, Kranjska Gora) and finished 2nd on the heels of Brignone in Semmering.
Unless another Italian, Sofia Goggia, joins the fight for the podium: a year ago, the queen of downhill finished 5th at Kronplatz, before suffering a serious injury (double tibia-malleolus fracture right leg) in training a few days later. “I approach this race feeling calm“, assured “Turbo Goggia” before its first giant in a year.
