Aigner siblings dominate as Super G battles heat up in Bardonecchia

Bardonecchia (ITA) played host to three Super G races this week on the stunning "Olimpica" slope, the final speed events before the season-ending finals in Sella Nevea (ITA) and Veysonnaz (SUI).

On course for both the Super G and overall Crystal Globes, Veronika Aigner (AUT), guided by her sister Elisabeth, and Ebba Aarsjoe (SWE) each completed a hat-trick of victories in the Women’s Vision Impaired and Women’s Standing categories, respectively. The Austrian claimed all three wins ahead of Korea’s Sara Choi and guide Eunmi Eo and now holds a commanding 440 points in the Super G standings, with 1,370 points overall—an impressive 650-point lead over her closest rival and teammate, Elina Stary (AUT). Meanwhile, Aarsjoe’s wins were anything but easy. France’s Aurélie Richard pushed the Swede to the limit, finishing second in all three races, including a narrow 0.73-second deficit in the final event. Despite missing some Super G races earlier in the season, Aarsjoe leads the discipline standings with 500 points, 160 ahead of her friend and rival Claire Petit (NED), who continued her strong form with three third-place finishes in Bardonecchia. Aarsjoe also leads the overall standings with 1,300 points.

The Women’s Sitting category remains a much closer contest. Anna-Lena Forster (GER) holds the overall lead, but with 310 points separating her from Spain’s Audrey Pascual Seco and 630 from Japan’s Momoka Muraoka, the battle is not over. With Muraoka absent in Bardonecchia, the competition turned into a fierce German-Spanish showdown. Forster claimed the opening Super G with a 1.15-second advantage over Seco, while Barbara Van Bergen (NED), known for her speed-event prowess, rounded out the podium. However, Van Bergen’s luck turned in the next two races, recording DNFs. Seco capitalized on a costly mistake from Forster to win the second race and snatch the leader’s bib, before doubling down with another victory in the final Super G, finishing 1.26 seconds ahead of Forster. The Spanish skier now leads the discipline standings with 440 points, 50 ahead of her German rival, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown in Sella Nevea.

Johannes Aigner (AUT), guided by Nico Haberl, mirrored his sister’s success with a dominant performance in the Men’s Vision Impaired category. Determined to bounce back from a World Championships without a medal, the young Austrian stormed to victory in all three Super G races, each time ahead of France’s Hyacinthe Deleplace and guide Valentin Giraud-Moine, with Korea’s Mingyu Hwang and guide Junhyeong Kim completing the podium. With 500 points in the Super G standings, Aigner now leads Deleplace by 150 points, securing the discipline’s Crystal Globe with one race to spare. The overall title race, however, remains open, with Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli and guide Andrea Ravelli currently standing 320 points behind the Austrian leaders.

Austrian surprise in the Men’s Standing category! Thomas Volgger (AUT) not only secured his first podiums of the season with two runner-up finishes behind France’s Arthur Bauchet, but he also stepped up in the final Super G, edging Bauchet by just 0.18 seconds to claim his maiden World Cup victory. With these three strong results, Volgger has climbed to third in the discipline standings with 330 points, behind Bauchet and ahead of Italy’s Federico Pelizzari, who finished third, sixth, and fifth in Bardonecchia. The battle for the Super G title remains undecided, with the final showdown in Sella Nevea looming.

The Super G and overall battle between Jesper Pedersen (NOR) and Jeroen Kampschreur (NED) continued in the Men’s Sitting category. Fresh off a highly successful World Championships, Pedersen kicked off the week with a win, finishing 0.59 seconds ahead of Kampschreur and 1.87 seconds ahead of Italy’s Renè De Silvestro. However, Pedersen’s fortunes took a turn in the second Super G when he suffered a dramatic crash into the safety netting. De Silvestro and Niels De Langen (NED) also failed to finish, allowing Kampschreur to capitalize with a crucial victory, securing 100 points while his biggest rival walked away empty-handed—a perfect trade-off. But Norway still had something to celebrate. Magnus Valoe Balchen (NOR) delivered a breakthrough performance, finishing second to earn his first-ever World Cup podium. The podium was completed by New Zealand’s Corey Peters, who had placed fourth the day before but failed to finish the next race. In the final Super G, Kampschreur secured another dominant victory, crossing the line 1.96 seconds ahead of De Silvestro and 2.01 ahead of Pedersen. With that, the Dutchman now leads the Super G standings by 85 points—a comfortable margin, but nothing is settled yet.

With the races in Kranjska Gora (SLO) canceled, athletes now have just over a week to recharge before the final stretch of the 2024/25 World Cup season. The campaign resumes in Sella Nevea with the speed finals before concluding in Veysonnaz with the technical finals.