Manuel Feller Wins the Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom in kitzbuehel

Manuel Feller wins a thrilling Slalom race in Kitzbuehel, finishing ahead of Loic Meillard by 0.35 seconds. Linus Strasser secured third place, finishing 0.53 seconds behind the leader. In his eleventh start in the Kitzbuehel Slalom, Manuel Feller, whose best result was a fourth place in 2024, achieved the victory of his dreams.

Feller's win marked the first Austrian victory in the eighth Slalom race of the season, held on the Ganslernhang course, and the first Austrian victory in Kitzbuehel since Marcel Hirscher won in 2017. He delivered an aggressive second run, which propelled him from fourth to first place. This victory is Feller’s seventh in the World Cup, and notably, it is his first win in nearly two years; his last triumph was in Palisades Tahoe on February 25, 2024.

The 33-year-old Tyrolean skier joins Tomas Sykora in 5th place on the list for the most Slalom World Cup podiums among Austrian skiers with 21. Marcel Hirscher is on top of the list with 65 podiums.

It is the 15th victory for the Austrian team in Kitzbuehel. A total of 59 Slalom World Cup races have been held in the Austrian ski resort.

"Right now, I'm struggling to find the right words to describe how I feel. I've dreamt about it many times. I've been in a good position a few times, but maybe I lacked the nerve. Today it just worked out. I didn't even try to do anything special. My ski was solid in the first run, and I did the same in the second run. I tried to always make the turns quickly and release them immediately, but without taking unnecessary risks. That’s a very good tactic on this slope. When something is difficult, the satisfaction is greater. I fought for a very long time for the podium, for the victory," Feller said.

Loic Meillard, who was on course for victory after the first run, finished second. For the 17th time since 2009, the leader at the halfway point has only won once in Kitzbuehel, when Henrik Kristoffersen won in 2018. The 29-year-old Swiss skier claimed his fourth podium of the season and his 14th career Slalom World Cup podium finish.

"I tried to attack. I know this is exactly the course setting where things aren't quite working out the way I'd like them to at the moment. Of course, a win would have been nice. But second in Kitzbühel is still great because I've never had a good feeling here," Meillard said.

Linus Strasser claimed his first podium of the season. The last World Cup Top-3 for him came in Saalbach on March 17, 2024. The 33-year-old German skier is the only one to have finished inside the Top 5 in the last four Kitzbuehel Slalom races. He won the 2024 race, finished third in 2026, fourth in 2023, and 5th in 2025.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen finished in 4th place and leads the Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom standings with 372 points. Clement Noel is second with 375 points. Atle Lie McGrath is third with 372 points.