First podium of the season for Vincent Kriechmayr

HEAD World Cup Rebels podium in all four races this weekend. Vincent Kriechmayr celebrates his first podium of the season, finishing second in the Super-G in Bormio on Sunday. Second places are also clocked by Franjo von Allmen in the Downhill on the Stelvio run on Saturday, Sara Hector in the Giant Slalom in Semmering on Saturday, and Lena Dürr in the Slalom in Semmering on Sunday. Camille Rast races into the New Year as the leader in the overall World Cup, and the Slalom World Cup.

"These results put us in a strong position. While every race is different, the results for both the men's and the women's teams are basically brilliant. Vincent Kriechmayr's first podium this season was excellent considering his recent results," is how HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber analyses the current standings. "My review of the season so far is very positive. I am very pleased to see that our strategy of supporting young athletes is a sound investment. The team deserves to be highly satisfied with this first stage of the season."

Vincent Kriechmayr in the top 3 in Bormio for the sixth time

Bormio is still one of Vincent Kriechmayr's favourite mountains. The Austrian athlete finished second in the Super-G for his sixth podium on the Stelvio run, his fourth in this discipline. "I'm happy to take this second place, but of course I am focused on winning. I skied a strong run, but am still lacking confidence in places. It was one of my better performances this season, although not everything worked out as planned," says Vincent Kriechmayr. Franjo von Allmen from Switzerland stood out in sixth place with his best Super-G performance of the season. Stefan Babinsky from Austria finished in tenth place to put another HEAD World Cup Rebel in the top ten. 15th place went to Justin Murisier from Switzerland, 21st place to Ryan Cochran-Siegle from the USA, and 28th place to Nicolo Molteni from Italy.

Franjo von Allmen just misses first World Cup victory

Franjo von Allmen once again demonstrated immense form finishing in second place in the Downhill in Bormio. The Swiss athlete took his second podium finish of the season on the Stelvio run, having finished second in the Downhill in Val Gardena last week - the third overall for the 23-year-old including his debut podium in the Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January 2024. Franjo von Allmen missed his first World Cup victory by just 24 hundredths of a second. His compatriot Justin Murisier, who won the Downhill in Beaver Creek earlier in December, was pleased with a sound sixth place. World Cup points were also bagged by Vincent Kriechmayr in eighth place, Simon Jocher from Germany who finished 13th, Nils Alphand from France 14th, Stefan Babinsky 15th, James Crawford from Canada 17th, and Matthieu Bailet from France in 21st place.

Sara Hector podiums for the first time in Semmering

Sara Hector finished in second place in the Giant Slalom to podium for the first time in Semmering. The Swedish athlete was in third place after the first run, and secured second place overall by clocking the fourth-fastest time on the second run. "Previously I have never achieved good results here, so this feels really cool. It's not so easy at the top of the run because it's relatively flat. The course is full of corners, so you have to be good on these 90-degree bends. The snow was incredibly good, and so was the atmosphere here," said Sara Hector. This was the 32-year-old's second podium of the season following her victory in the Giant Slalom in Killington in November. Lara Gut-Behrami was in second place after a strong first run. Following a serious mistake when she snagged her arm on a gate, the Swiss athlete had to settle for ninth place overall. World Cup points were also picked up by Camille Rast from Switzerland in 17th place, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway who was 19th, Wendy Holdener from Switzerland 21st, Lena Dürr from Germany 22nd, Estelle Alphand from Sweden 25th, and A J Hurt from the USA in 27th place.

Camille Rast holds onto Red Jerseys

Lena Dürr finished second in the Slalom in Semmering, her second podium of the season, following her third place in the Slalom in Levi in November. The German athlete led a strong HEAD team with five in the top eight: Camille Rast finished fourth, Sara Hector fifth, Wendy Holdener sixth and Emma Aicher eighth. Finishing fourth, Camille Rast races into the New Year wearing the Red Jersey in the overall World Cup, as well as the Red Jersey in the Slalom. Debut World Cup points went to the two Swiss athletes Eliane Christen, who finished twelfth having started with bib number 47, and Janine Mächler, who finished 26th with bib number 48. Points were also scored by Cornelia Öhlund from Sweden in 16th place and A J Hurt in 18th place.