Who to watch? Val d'Isere Men's Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom

Marco Odermatt, Alex Vinatzer, Henrik Kristoffersen. Beaver Creek. Picture: Erich Spiess / Red Bull Content Pool

This winter "The Critérium de la Première Neige à Val d'Isère" celebrates its 70th anniversary. Since 1968, Val d'Isere has been a key stop on the Alpine Ski World Cup calendar. The Men’s Giant Slalom and Slalom events will be held on December 13th and 14th at La Face de Bellevarde, one of the most iconic and challenging racecourses on the Alpine Ski World Cup Tour.

Val d'Isère has hosted 105 Alpine Ski World Cup races across all disciplines to date. Only two venues have hosted more: Kitzbühel, Austria (185), and Wengen, Switzerland (132).

Val d'Isere (FRA)

December 13th Giant Slalom / Men 1 Run 09:30 LOC - 2 Run 13:00 LOC

After failing to finish the first two Giant Slaloms in Sölden and Beaver Creek, Marco Odermatt achieved his first Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom victory of the 2024-2025 winter season in Val d'Isere. Odermatt has won the Giant Slalom at Val d’Isère for the past four seasons (2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024).

An Austrian duo completed the podium. Patrick Feurstein finished in second place, +0.08 seconds behind, and Stefan Brennsteiner took third, +0.12 seconds off the pace.

Team Switzerland has the most World Cup Giant Slalom wins in Val d'Isère, with a total of 10 victories. Austria follows closely with nine wins, while France, Italy, and the USA each have four wins. Sweden has two victories, and Norway has one.

Last season, Marco Odermatt was again the absolute dominator of the Giant Slalom discipline. The reigning Olympic Champion won the Men's Giant Slalom Crystal Globe for the fourth consecutive time.

If Marco Odermatt wins the Giant Slalom Crystal Globe in the 2025-2026 winter season, he will tie Ted Ligety for third place on the record list, with each having won five Globes. The record is held by Ingemar Stenmark with seven Globes, followed by Marcel Hirscher with six.

Marco Odermatt has achieved 28 victories in Giant Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup races, ranking him third on the all-time list, behind Ingemar Stenmark with 46 wins and Marcel Hirscher with 31 wins.

Since his first Giant Slalom World Cup win on December 7, 2020, in Santa Caterina, Marco Odermatt has won more than half of the races in which he has competed: 28 out of 47.

Last Sunday, Marco Odermatt added the Giant Slalom World Cup at the Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek to his list of wins. Alex Vinatzer came second, finishing 0.23 seconds behind the Swiss skier. It's his first World Cup podium in Giant Slalom. Henrik Kristoffersen rounded off the top three, finishing 0.34 seconds behind the winner.

It's Odermatt's fourth victory of the season in six races and his 28th victory in the Giant Slalom. He laid the foundation for his 49th overall World Cup win in the first run.

After Beaver Creek's win, Marco Odermatt leads the Giant Slalom standings alongside Stefan Brennsteiner with 200 points. Henrik Kristoffersen is third with 176 points.

Alex Vinatzer claimed his first career Giant Slalom World Cup podium and repeated his best World Cup result by finishing 2nd in Beaver Creek. He had another runner-up spot in the Kitzbühel Slalom in January 2025. Vinatzer’s 2nd-place finish ended the streak of six consecutive Giant Slalom races without a podium for Italy. The previous Italian athlete to finish inside the Top 3 was Luca De Aliprandini, who was third in Adelboden in the season 2024-2025.

Henrik Kristoffersen stood on the Giant Slalom podium 38 times, achieving a total of 97 Alpine Ski World Cup podiums.

During the 2024-2025 winter season, the 31-year-old Norwegian skier achieved four podium finishes in Giant Slalom and won a race in Kranjska Gora. It was Kristoffersen's 8th World Cup victory in the Giant Slalom. His victory takes Kristoffersen to 12th place in the all-time Men's Giant Slalom World Cup winners list, ahead of Pirmin Zurbriggen, Marc Girardelli, Phil Mahre, Massimiliano Blardone, Piero Gros, and Jean-Claude Killy, all of whom have seven wins. Kristoffersen surpassed in 2021 Kjetil André Aamodt (6) for most World Cup Giant Slalom wins in total among Norwegian skiers.

By finishing 3rd in Beaver Creek, Henrik Kristoffersen equaled Alexis Pinturault and Michael von Gruenigen in 3rd place on the all-time list with 82 Top-10 finishes in Men's Giant Slalom races. He needs two more to catch Benjamin Raich (84) in second place. Ingemar Stenmark leads the record list with 101 Top-10 finishes.

There are only three athletes who have managed to claim a Top-10 spot in all three Giant Slalom World Cup races this season: Henrik Kristoffersen, Stefan Brennsteiner, and Alex Vinatzer.

The Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom in Copper Mountain brought another first-time winner. After 77 starts, 34-year-old Stefan Brennsteiner achieved his first World Cup triumph in the second Giant Slalom of the season in Colorado.

Brennsteiner has previously achieved four World Cup podium finishes in the Giant Slalom discipline: third place in Bansko in February 2021, third place in Kranjska Gora in March 2021, second place in Kranjska Gora in March 2022, and third place in Val d'Isère in December 2024.

Brennsteiner has finished inside the Top 10 in seven consecutive Giant Slalom World Cup races since Schladming in January 2025. It is the longest active streak in the discipline.

At least one Austrian skier has stood on the podium in the last 11 Val d'Isere World Cup Giant Slaloms, achieving four victories (all by Marcel Hirscher), five second places, and three third-place finishes.

Loic Meillard finished in 9th place in the Giant Slalom in Beaver Creek, his first Top-10 finish in the 2025-2026 winter season.

Like in 2024, Atle Lie McGrath was again on the Soelden podium in third place. This was the fourth time he had achieved a podium finish in the Giant Slalom at the Alpine Ski World Cup. Atle Lie McGrath claimed his second podium finish of the season in the Slalom event held in Gurgl last Saturday.

In Copper Mountain, he did not qualify for the second run. In Beaver Cree,k he finished in 7th place.

Raphael Haaser won the gold medal in the Giant Slalom at the Alpine World Championships held in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

This was Austria's ninth gold medal in the Men's Giant Slalom event at the World Championships. Marcel Hirscher won the last gold medal for Austria at the Alpine World Ski Championships in St. Moritz in 2017.

Haaser had never won or stood on the podium in a Giant Slalom event in the Alpine Ski World Cup. He recorded the fastest second run in Soelden, finishing in sixth place, his career-best result in the Giant Slalom discipline.

The 28-year-old Austrian skier has already finished on the podium five times, but all in the Super-G.

In Copper Mountain, Filip Zubcic claimed his first Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom podium in almost two years. His last top-three result prior to Colorado was achieved in Adelboden in January 2024.

Zubcic is the most successful World Cup Giant Slalom athlete from Croatia, men or women, with three World Cup wins, 12 podiums, and 39 Top-10 finishes.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the Slalom season opener in Levi, securing Brazil's first-ever Alpine Ski World Cup victory. He finished in 5th position in the Giant Slalom in Beaver Creek.

Marco Schwarz finished second in Soelden. The last time he finished on the Giant Slalom World Cup podium before Soelden was almost two years ago, on 18 December 2023, in Alta Badia. Soelden was the sixth time in his career that he finished on the podium in a Giant Slalom event, marking his 24th Alpine Ski World Cup podium.

Alexis Pinturault holds the record as the most successful French skier in World Cup history. Pinturault is just three wins away from surpassing Benjamin Raich and Aksel Lund Svindal, both of whom have 36 wins. Achieving this milestone would place him eighth on the all-time list for overall World Cup victories. This ranking is topped by Ingemar Stenmark, who has achieved 86 victories in the Alpine Ski World Cup.

Pinturault has the most career Top-10 Giant Slalom World Cup finishes among active athletes at 82.

He was the last Frenchman to win a World Cup Giant Slalom race on home snow in Val d'Isere in 2017. He was also the last French skier on the podium as well, finishing 2nd in 2021.

French skiers haven't won a Men's World Cup Giant Slalom event for 40 consecutive races. It’s team France’s third-longest winless streak in history. Alexis Pinturault was the last Frenchman to win a World Cup Giant Slalom race in Lenzerheide in March 2021.