Sofia Goggia, Saturday to forget in Val d'Isere

Sofia Goggia still has to wait to try to win her first race in the 2025-2026 Alpine Skiing World Cup: having started among the favorites in the downhill in Val d’Isere, the champion from Bergamo got off to a great start, with an excellent time in the first phase of the race, except for running into a mistake in the fourth sector that, in fact, not only jeopardized her success but also prevented her from getting any closer to the podium. For Goggia comes a disappointing eighth place, 62 hundredths behind winner Cornelia Hütter. Regret is also great because the Italian, compared to the Austrian, lost a whopping 96 hundredths in the very incriminating sector.

Lower behind Hütter was Germany&#8217s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann, who finished her race with a time 26 hundredths slower than the winner’1’41″54. Closing out the podium was the eternal Lindsey Vonn, 35 hundredths behind Hütter: for the American champion another satisfaction after her return to success last week, on the slopes of St. Moritz, just in the downhill. In addition to Sofia Goggia, Italy places two other athletes in the Top 10: the best of the day is Laura Pirovano, fifth just 6 hundredths from the podium, While Nicol Delago ranks ninth, with a delay from Hütter of 1″01.

In the overall women’s World Cup standings, Mikaela Shiffrin, who is not competing in the downhill races but has collected 558 points so far in the technical disciplines, remains firmly in the lead. Second is New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, who is out of the Top 20 today, with 404 points, and third is Germany’s Emma Aicher, who instead finished today’s race in 10th position, moving up to 345. As for the specialty ranking, Lindsey Vonn remains in front with 240 points, ahead of Emma Aicher’s 171 and Cornelia Hütter’s 155. Sofia Goggia is first among the Italian women in both the overall (where she&#8217s ninth with 272 points) and downhill (fourth at 142) rankings.

The women’s World Cup weekend will continue Sunday with the super-G, again on the La face de Bellevarde slope in Val d’Isere. In last week’s Super-G in St. Moritz, Alice Robinson had won, ahead of France’s Romane Miradoli and Sofia Goggia, in her second podium finish of the season after the one in the downhill, also in St. Moritz.

The White Circus season will then continue over the next two weekends with special slalom and giant slalom, first in Semmering, Austria, on December 27 and 28 and then in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on January 3 and 4. Downhill and Super-G will be back on January 10 and 11, respectively, on the Austrian snows of Altenmarkt-Zauchensee.