Milan Cortina 2026, Italy overflowing in second downhill run

The top 3 of the second round of the downhill of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Bormio is colored blue: Mattia Casse jumps a gate and sets the best time on an increasingly fast Stelvio in 1’52″85, followed at 0″45 by Florian Schieder and at 0″87 by Giovanni Franzoni, second and third in the ranking. Right behind the two Frenchmen Maxence Muzaton and Nils Allegre paired at 0″99, with Swiss Alexis Monney sixth at 1″16 tailed by Christof Innerhofer, seventh at 1″18; Dominik Paris brakes widely and closes with 2″03 from Casse, as do also – among others – Kriechmayr (+1″83), Odermatt (+2″72) and Von Allmen (+2″87).

Luca Giorgetti

As per the schedule, Friday, Feb. 6, is scheduled for the third and final time trial; Saturday, Feb. 7, it will be serious business with the Stelvio, which from 11:30 a.m. will put the first Olympic titles in alpine skiing up for grabs. The blue quartet in the race will consist of Mattia Casse, Giovanni Franzoni, Dominik Paris and Florian Schieder.

“I like this slope very much, I like this snow: every day it gets better, today it was harder than yesterday, the preparation team is working very well – said Mattia Casse, leader of the second round -. I hope there will be more ice in the next days. For tomorrow we will see if there will be a third run, otherwise I will devote myself to more technical training.”

“Today conditions were clearly better, the line was quite clean and it will be cleaned again. I had a good look at some passages and I will try to pass as best as I can -the words of Florian Schiedere, who set the second best time. There are many athletes who can do well but we are there too. I know I am fast, it will be an open race in which we will have to attack full out from start to finish”.

“Today the feeling was very different from yesterday: more ice, more moved, more speed– explained Giovanni Franzoni -. That is precisely why I have to review the lines on the video. I tried to stay calm and not push too hard to preserve the legs: I tested some sections, in others I slowed down.”

In the history of the Olympic Games, there are three Italian medals in the men’s downhill: gold for Zeno Colò in Oslo 1952, bronze for Herbert Plank in Innsbruck 1976, and silver for Innerhofer in Sochi 2014; there are six downhill victories on the Stelvio in the World Cup for Dominik Paris, plus one in the super-G.