Three Swiss, 0.33 seconds. Loïc Meillard won the giant slalom on the Face de Bellevarde in Val d’Isère on Saturday in 2:10.07, 0.18 ahead of Luca Aerni and 0.33 ahead of Marco Odermatt. Switzerland took the podium outright.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loïc MeillardSUI | SUI | 2:10.07 |
| 2 | Luca AerniSUI | SUI | +0.18 |
| 3 | Marco OdermattSUI | SUI | +0.33 |
| 5 | Stefan BrennsteinerAUT | AUT | n/a |
| 6 | River RadamusUSA | USA | n/a |
Fifth to first
Brennsteiner led the first run; Odermatt was fourth, 0.46 back; Meillard was fifth. The Bellevarde is the steepest giant slalom face in regular use and it does one thing to a field: it separates the skiers who can keep the outside ski loaded on the pitch from the ones who get late and then have nowhere to recover on the flat run-out. Brennsteiner lost his rhythm in the second run and dropped to fifth. Meillard gained four places.
Aerni, a slalom and combined specialist by trade, took his first World Cup giant slalom podium. Meillard said it showed the work the team had put in over the previous fortnight and that Aerni had been working hard for two seasons.
Odermatt, third and unhappy
Odermatt had flown in from Beaver Creek, where he had won the giant slalom six days earlier. He said he was not actually happy with his skiing over the two runs and blamed jet lag and coming back to different snow. Third place still extended his lead in a standings table he led in four disciplines at the time.
Numbers
- 5th: Meillard’s giant slalom wins. He was 29.
- 0.46: Odermatt’s first-run deficit, which he reduced but did not erase.
- 1st: Aerni’s giant slalom podium, from two career podiums.
- 17: Switzerland’s World Cup wins this season, the most of any nation.
Timon Haugan won the slalom on the same hill the next day, by 0.28 from Meillard. Switzerland’s season was built on weekends like this one: 50 of the 219 podium places in 2025/26 went to Swiss skiers, more than any other nation.