A surprise guided tour in Madonna di Campiglio

The slalom season in January kicks off on Wednesday evening in Madonna di Campiglio. Surprisingly, a young man from Finland is in the lead.

07 January 2026

From: dl

Alex Vinatzer had been skiing exceptionally well, especially in the upper section. At one point, the Val Gardena native was more than three-tenths of a second ahead of the then-leader, Tanguy Nef. However, Vinatzer is still struggling with consistency in slalom this winter: the 26-year-old straddled the first gate on the steep section and was eliminated once again. This was Vinatzer's second DNF of the Olympic season, following his failure in Levi.

Vinatzer, starting with bib number 17, actually had good conditions. The slope in Trentino seemed to get faster and faster. Completely unexpectedly, Finn Eduard Hallberg is in the lead. The young man, starting with bib number 21, was the fastest. The 22-year-old had already finished second this year in his hometown of Levi.

Alex Vinatzer missed the gate at the steep slope entrance. © APA/afp / PIERRE TEYSSOT

Hallberg currently leads by 21 hundredths of a second over the Swiss skier Nef, who was already second at the halfway point in Gurgl this year. Nef has never been on the podium before. The top favorites, Clement Noel, Henrik Kristoffersen, Timon Haugan, and Atle Lie McGrath, finished in third through sixth place, respectively.

South Tyrolean before premiere

Even though Vinatzer has been eliminated, a South Tyrolean will still be competing in the final in Madonna di Campiglio (starting at 21 pm in the SportNews(Ticker) will be there. This isn't Tobias Kastlunger, who missed qualifying, but Matteo Canins: The Val Badia native made his mark with bib number 50 and is currently in 26th place. This gives Canins a great chance to score his first World Cup points.

Keywords Winter sports Alpine skiing Madonna di Campiglio Alex Vinatzer