Joy for Olympic champ Noël in Madonna di Campiglio
Jan 07, 2026·Alpine Skiing
Clément Noël (FRA/Dynastar) picked the ideal time to produce his best skiing of the season, flying to a thrilling victory in Wednesday’s legendary Madonna di Campiglio night Slalom.
With five Audi FIS World Cup Slalom races in January, plus the Olympic Winter Games to follow in early February, Noël once again proved his timing is exceptional.
Facing the kind of icy, compact conditions in which he thrives, not to mention a race hill that has long identified the world’s best, the reigning Olympic Slalom champion piled on the pressure with a superb second run.
It was just too much for first run leader, Eduard Hallberg (FIN/Fischer). Although the 22-year-old Finn, last season’s Longines Rising Star winner, gave it his best with only an error six gates from home preventing him from taking a first ever World Cup win. Hallberg ended 0.12 seconds back, while fellow young flier Paco Rassat (FRA/Head) completed a great night for France by grabbing third.
On a tightly packed leaderboard, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA/Atomic) was left rueing the odd bit of caution, as he finished just three-hundredths-of-a-second off the podium, while just one-hundredth separated fifth-placed Erik Hystad Soldberg (NOR/Fischer) and Armand Marchant (BEL/ Head) and Timon Haugan (NOR/Van Deer) who were tied for sixth - all less than half-a-second off Noël.
French 'in great shape'
Fine margins are what it is all about and Noël knows exactly how to get the better of them. His 15th World Cup win pushed him up to just three points behind leader Haugan in the race for the Slalom Globe and set up the next six weeks perfectly.
Aware that the two racers in front of him at the halfway stage not only had less than quarter-of-a-second advantage, but also, perhaps more crucially, had very little experience to fall back on, Noël threw down the gauntlet in a true winner’s style.
It was too much for Tanguy Nef (SUI/Atomic). Still chasing his first World Cup podium, the Swiss man could not build on a great first run and faltered to end 10th. It looked for a long while like Hallberg would prevail but, in the end, he too fell short – albeit only just.
“I have to say Eduard, he did a really small mistake at the end and that allowed me to get the win. He is a great contender,” Noël said, before celebrating the fact the French are flying.
“It’s a big, big joy to share this podium with Paco. He is great shape, we are in great shape, the whole team.”
A second career podium, coming on the back of a first victory, recorded in Gurgl in November, has pushed Rassat into third in the season-standings. Add on Steven Amiez (FRA/Rossignol) in 10th and veteran Victor Muffat-Jeandet (FRA/Salomon) still firing shots in 15th, and it’s no wonder the smiles are growing.
“It’s really, really cool,” Rassat said, having found the quickest second run of all to climb 13 places up the leaderboard.
“The goal in the second run was really to push full attack. I had some luck with the timings but at the end I am really happy and to share it with Clément is amazing.”
Hallberg's star rising
The fact Hallberg came so close to puncturing the French delight points to even greater things ahead for the young Finn. Halfway leader for the first time, Hallberg was delighted to report he relished the challenge.
“Of course, a bit bitter to lose the win (by) 0.12 but still really happy with the day,” he said. “After the first run, all by myself up there, it was a bit of an unusual experience but I still think it was pretty exciting and fun. I managed to also ski good and find my own skiing. A couple of mistakes but still decent skiing. To reach the podium and my career best result, it’s amazing.
“The time in-between, say half-an-hour, 20 minutes before I start, that’s maybe the worst. But when I am in the tunnel, when I get my skis on my feet, then I can just focus on my thing and I mean, it felt like a normal race.”
For a man in just his 16th World Cup Slalom that is quite a place to be. Especially when you consider what is coming up in the next month.
“I will try to keep the ball rolling, keep the momentum I found now. It’s really nice when I can show already the first race in January that the speed is good.”
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