Super Italy in Crans Montana: Dominik Paris surrenders only to Von Allmen

Franjo Von Allmen wins the last World Cup downhill before the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics. On the “piste Nationale” of Crans Montana the Swiss triumphs with a time of 1’55″00, but behind him is a great Italy. As many as four Azzurri are among the top nine in the ranking, as only the Swiss, so far, have been able to do. Paris 2nd, Alliod 5th, Casse 7th and Schieder 9th are the plastic representation of the level reached by the men’s speed team. And it will be a duel between these two nations for the Olympic speed medals in Bormio.

Luca Giorgetti

Dominik Paris hits his second podium of the season, number 52 of his career, a sign that the Valais slope likes the Val d’Ultimo champion, who was already third, albeit in super-G, last year. Paris eager to prove, first and foremost to himself, that he was competitive for the podium, started perhaps too eagerly. His speed, however, was always very high and increased in the middle section tackled with great precision. A few imperfections in the final did not detract from the race of the 35-year-old Italian, who finished behind the phenomenal Swiss by 65 hundredths. Excellent viaticum for the Olympic Games and ahead of the 2027 World Championships.

“It&#8220s a great result that gives a lot of charge – the words of the South Tyrolean -. I probably didn&#8217t do a perfect race but much better than many others. The confidence like this increases. I try, on every track, to find the best feelings to make the best possible performance. Today I did a middle part in which I felt really good, maybe I could have done something better in the lower part, but I tried to go down as best as I could. In every race there is learning to be done. When you are young you look for the limit, and when you are more experienced you try to do everything accurately. I like to give advice to younger people, I always do it willingly”.

Benjamin Alliod enters the positions that count for the first time in his career, thanks to a great test, based on a great sliding speed. Despite making a few mistakes, the 26-year-old Aosta Valley Army man finished in fifth place 86 hundredths behind the leader.

“I’m surprised because I didn’t expect it,” said Alliod, “then I arrived and saw that I was fifth and I exploded with joy. I can do the sliding sections and I can do the turns, and today I was able to put together a great race. I got compliments from my teammates, we are very close. I was starting inside thirty today and today I consolidated the position and it changes a lot when you are in the race.”

Excellent race for both Mattia Casse and Florian Schieder. Casse, even seemed to be competitive with Von Allmen until the penultimate intermediate, when he made some slight error in setting the curves leading to the finish, leaving many tenths in the final, to finish 92 hundredths behind. Schieder was very consistent and fast throughout the course. Only minor imperfections for the Castelrotto blue, which, however, added up to a final gap of 95 hundredths.