Brignone and Goggia lead Italy in Kranjska: Fede defending the red bib

The Ski World Cup restarts on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 January with two historic stages between Kranjska Gora and Adelboden. In Italy there is great anticipation for the Slovenian stage, especially for Saturday's giant slalom featuring Federica Brignone specialty leader after a sumptuous start to the season. Marta obviously lends a hand to the Valle d'Aosta bassino, which will have to redeem the fall of Lienz, and Sofia goggia, which returned permanently to the top ten. The men are also competing in Adelboden but between giant slalom and slalom there is less chance of prestigious results.  

Brignone, what a performance in the giant slalom

Federica's superlative start to the season Brignone, always capable of finishing in the top ten in almost all specialties with the exception of the slalom where she came out in Lienz in the first heat. Especially in the giant slalom, the performance of the Aosta Valley athlete was exceptional with an impressive sequence of results: second, sixth, first, first, second. In fact there are three consecutive podiums and four out of five races held, in fact the red bib for the specialty belongs to her with 400 points ahead of Lara's 365 Good-Behrami and Mikaela's 320 Shiffrin. Brignone she will try again on Saturday 6 January (first heat at 9.30 am and second at 12.30 pm, live on Rai and Eurosport), to consolidate the top spot and, who knows, try to get closer to an extraordinary Shiffrin in the general classification (900 Mikaela and 637 Fede). Brignone she also performed well in the fast disciplines with the victory in the super-G in Val d'Isere and the third place in the downhill in St. Moritz, also adding a fifth and an eighth place and so far she has tried to keep in the wake of the American champion.

In Kranjska Gora, only for the giant, Sofia will also be there goggia. The Bergamo native found the top ten again in a specialty that he has always loved but which he had temporarily abandoned for speed. With the exception of the first giant of Solden (sixteenth), Sofia has always entered the top ten with ninth place in Killington, seventh and tenth in Mont Tremblant and eighth in Lienz. There are nine Italians who will take part on Saturday 6 January (first heat at 09.30, second heat at 12.30 with live TV on Raisport and Eurosport) in the sixth seasonal women's giant slalom World Cup on the Podkoren slope in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. They are Federica Brignone, Marta Bassino, Sofia Goggia, Laura Pirovano, Roberta Melesi, Asja Zenere, Elisa Platino, Lara Della Mea and Ilaria Ghisalberti, who returns to the major circuit almost two years after her last appearance. Kranjska brings good to Brignone who finished second in 2012 and last season. Also bassino has a favorable tradition in Slovenia, in fact she won twice in two days in 2021 and was second in 2023 and third in 2022. goggia instead, she achieved her first career podium in the giant slalom in 2018 in Kranjska, where she was third. Sunday 7 January (first run at 09.30 am, second run at 12.30 pm) will be the turn of the sixth slalom for which Martina Peterlini, Marta Rossetti, Lara Della Mea, Anita Gulli, Beatrice Sola, Lucrezia Lorenzi and Vera Tschurtschenthaler will be at the start .  

Men in difficulty

Historic weekend also ad adelboden on the famous Kuenisbaergli. In Switzerland a giant slalom and a slalom for the men's team who started the season quite badly and without any highlights apart from those of the jet men. In the Swiss town we start with the fourth giant slalom on Saturday 6 January (first heat at 10.30 am, second heat at 13.30 pm with live Raisport and Eurosport TV) in which Luca will take part De Aliprandini, Young Borsotti, Philip Of The Vine, Simon Talacci, Hannes Zingerle, Alex Vinatzer and Tobias Kastlunger. The latter two will also compete in the fourth slalom the following day (first run at 10.30 am, second run at 13.30 pm with live Raisport and Eurosport TV) like Simon Maurberger, Tommaso Sala, Corrado Barbera, Stefano Gross and Matteo Canins. However, Giuliano will not be present Razzoli. In giant slalom, few results from the blue team. Philip Of The Vine went out twice and finished thirteenth on the Gran Risa, while Luca De Aliprandini he went out twice and obtained a twenty-fourth place in Alta Badia. The best was Giovanni Borsotti with a ninth place in Gran Risa, otherwise fourteenth and fifteenth in the other two seasonal giants. Alex is also in difficulty Vinatzer, always out of twenty in slalom (twenty-second in Campiglio and twenty-sixth in Gurgl), while in giant slalom he achieved a fourteenth, a nineteenth and a twenty-first place. In short, men's technical disciplines are going through a less than prosperous period and there is hope for a redemption in Adelboden in which Italy boasts a good tradition. There are nine total victories between giant slalom and slalom, of which three by Gustav Thoeni, one by Alberto Tomba (1995 giant slalom), one by Richard Pramotton in giant slalom in 1986, one by Piero Gros in giant slalom in 1975, one by Max Blardone in giant slalom in 2005, one by Giorgio Rocca in slalom in 2006 and one by Stefano Gross in slalom in 2015. In total there were 25 overall podiums for the Italian men's sector in Adelboden, but the last one dates back to 2017 with Manfred Moelgg in slalom. In short, redemption is needed after a dull start to the season and a difficult trend that has dragged on for some time, but the level of the opponents doesn't help, with Marco Odermatt dominant in everything it does and one of the most competitive sectors between the posts ever with at least 10-15 skiers capable of winning. It's time for Italy to join the top. Read also - Skiing, Brignone: wonderful to win with the whole family around