HEAD Worldcup Rebels are again the best ski team of the season

The HEAD Worldcup Rebels impressively put their stamp on their No. 1 position this season. With 9,720 points, HEAD clearly won the FIS ranking for ski manufacturers, leading both the men's and women's rankings. The HEAD team notched up a total of 79 podium finishes, including no fewer than 23 victories. On top of that, the Downhill Crystal Globe was won by Laura Pirovano and the Slalom Crystal Globe by Atle Lie McGrath. And at the highlight of the season the HEAD Worldcup Rebels also topped the medal table, with four gold, six silver and two bronze medals.

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"For me, it felt like the best season we've ever had. When you compare it with earlier times with athletes such as Lindsey Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal, Kjetil Jansrud, Ted Ligety, Beat Feuz, and Matthias Mayer, and see how many victories we've achieved this season and how well we're positioned across all disciplines, it just feels really good," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "My highlights this season were Franjo von Allmen’s three gold medals at the Games in Italy, the Crystal Globe secured by Laura Pirovano’s end-of-season winning streak in the Downhill, Atle Lie McGrath’s Crystal Globe in the Slalom, and Lindsey Vonn’s comeback." "Winning the Crystal Globe in the men's Slalom is very special for us, and will go down in company history. This is the first Crystal Globe for HEAD in the men's Slalom. Another highlight is that Emma Aicher remained in contention for winning the World Cup overall ranking right up to the last run. She is currently by far the best all-rounder and is delivering outstanding performances across all four disciplines. She is still young and has great prospects ahead of her. Once again, some of the younger athletes have enjoyed an impressive season with exceptional performances. Oscar Andreas Sandvik and Hans Grahl-Madsen have confirmed what they are capable of with their top results. Alessio Miggiano had a guaranteed spot in the speed events on the Europa Cup circuit and has taken another big step forward this season.

Franjo von Allmen - the alpine skiing superstar at the season´s highlight

The season's highlight became a true celebration for Franjo von Allmen. The 24-year-old Swiss athlete made skiing history by winning three gold medals in the Downhill, Super-G and Team event, which made him the alpine skiing superstar in Bormio. "It feels like a dream I don’t want to wake up from," said Franjo von Allmen. In four out of ten events, the HEAD Worldcup Rebels stood on top of the podium; they took second place six times and third place twice. This impressive performance once again demonstrated the exceptional quality of the HEAD team. The fourth HEAD gold medal was won by Ariana Rädler from Austria in the Team event. What is also remarkable is HEAD taking victory in both the men’s Downhill and Super-G events at four consecutive Games – Sochi, Pyeongchang, Beijing and Milan/Cortina. "The equipment we had at the start in Sochi back then is no match for what we had in Italy this time. Winning the gold medal in both the Downhill and the Super-G four times back-to-back is a testimony to the great dedication and skill of everybody involved in developing and producing this equipment," said Rainer Salzgeber.

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Laura Pirovano – three World Cup victories in a row to take the Downhill Crystal Globe

Laura Pirovano skied a sensational World Cup finale. Her two debut victories in both Downhill events in Val di Fassa and winning the final race in Kvitfjell secured the Crystal Globe in this discipline for the Italian athlete. "This is incredible, I still can't believe it. So many emotions, and I still can't take it all in. I don't know what has happened. I had the same feeling during every race the whole of the season. I thought the race today was not perfect either, so I was surprised to see the green light at the finish. I thought, this can't be possible. It is simply crazy!" said Laura Pirovano.

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Atle Lie McGrath - the finale sees him win the Slalom Crystal Globe

With three Slalom victories this season in Alta Badia, Wengen and Kranjska Gora, Atle Lie McGrath laid the foundations for his overall success: at the finale in Hafjell, eighth place was enough for the Norwegian athlete to take the Crystal Globe in this discipline for the first time. "They were the most complex emotions in my life. The second run wasn't perfect. At the finish line, I thought it might just be enough. When Lucas dropped out, I thought: shame for Lucas, but Noel and Henrik are still to come, anything is possible. Once it was certain, it was a bit too much for me, a bit too much emotion," said Atle Lie McGrath. In the World Cup ranking, Atle finished the season in third place overall.

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Lindsey Vonn – an incredible comeback, but no happy ending

Sadly, Lindsey Vonn's almost unimaginable comeback came to an unfortunate end. The 41-year-old American athlete returned to the World Cup after a break of five and a half years, dominated the Downhill events, crowning her exceptional performance with two victories in St Moritz and Zauchensee. During the last Downhill event before the Olympic Games in Crans-Montana, Lindsey Vonn sustained an ACL injury. She did manage to start the Downhill event in Cortina, however, but snagged a gate, fell, and sustained another severe injury. With 400 points, she still managed to reach fifth place in the Downhill World Cup ranking this season.

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Emma Aicher - one of the best athletes in all four disciplines

Emma Aicher kept the World Cup overall ranking on a knife-edge right up to the last run. In the end, the 22-year-old German athlete was only 87 points behind, just missing out on what would have been the absolute sensation of the season. Her results this season were outstanding with three World Cup victories: the Downhill in St. Moritz, the Super-G in Tarvis, and the Super-G in Soldeu. She also bagged seven more podium finishes in the Slalom, Downhill and Super-G. In the fourth discipline, the Giant Slalom, Emma Aicher narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth in Aare. "I'm really very pleased with the way this season turned out. My skiing in the Giant Slalom is also going in the right direction. I reckon I can take a break and feel good about it." said Emma Aicher.

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Paco Rassat - debut victories in the Slalom

Paco Rassat made his debut in the list of victories this season. The 27-year-old French athlete won the Slalom events in Gurgl and Adelboden. More victories for the HEAD Worldcup Rebels team this season were secured by Camille Rast from Switzerland (Giant Slalom Kranjska Gora, Slalom Kranjska Gora), Vincent Kriechmayr from Austria (Super-G Beaver Creek, Downhill Courchevel), Cornelia Hütter from Austria (Downhill Val d’Isere), Sara Hector from Sweden (Giant Slalom Spindleruv Mlyn), Corinne Suter from Switzerland (Downhill Soldeu) and Elena Curtoni from Italy (Super-G Val di Fassa).

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Alexis Pinturault - an illustrious career comes to an end

The Giant Slalom at the finale in Hafjell saw Alexis Pinturault end his illustrious skiing career: the 35-year-old French athlete won both the overall World Cup and the Giant Slalom World Cup in 2020/21. In addition, six Combined event World Cup titles and one Parallel Slalom World Cup title. He won 34 World Cup victories and claimed three World Championship titles: the Team event in 2017 in St. Moritz, and in the Combined event in 2019 in Aare and 2023 in Courchevel. Olympic medals won by Alexis Pinturault are Bronze in the Giant Slalom in 2014, Silver in the Combined event in 2018, and Bronze again in the Giant Slalom in 2018. "Today's race was very special. I wanted to ski as well as I could one more time and was delighted when I saw the green light at the finish. The first stage of my life in skiing has now come to an end, and I enjoyed it very much. I hope the second stage with my family will be just as cool," said Alexis Pinturault on leaving.

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"This level of performance is only possible with a dedicated team"

"These past five months of racing have flown by. When I see the photos of the award ceremonies, I realise just how outstanding our achievements have been over these five months," says Rainer Salzgeber, looking back and also looking ahead: "We now have seven months until the start of the season in October." New challenges await us. We will make good use of the remaining weeks until the end of April to gain further experience. We will also try to recruit a few new athletes. My thanks go to everybody in the team, those who are at the competitions as well as those back home. This level of performance is only possible with a dedicated team. In particular, I would like to take this opportunity to give my special thanks to those who construct and prepare the equipment. Each athlete is different and needs to be given the best possible support to meet their individual requirements. I'm delighted that the whole team gets on so well and is always pulling in the same direction."

The HEAD Worldcup Rebels' Olympic medals:

Gold (4)

• Men's Downhill: Franjo von Allmen (SUI)
• Men's Super-G: Franjo von Allmen (SUI)
• Men's Team Event: Switzerland with Franjo von Allmen
• Women's Team Event: Austria with Ariane Rädler (AUT)

Silver (6)

• Men's Super-G: Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA)
• Women's Downhill: Emma Aicher (GER)
• Women's Giant Slalom: Sara Hector (SWE)
• Women's Slalom: Camille Rast (SUI)
• Men's Team Event: Austria with Vincent Kriechmayr
• Women's Team Event: Germany with Emma Aicher

Bronze (2)

• Women's Super G: Cornelia Hütter (AUT)
• Women's Slalom: Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE)

World Cup podium finishes in the 2025/26 season

1st places (23)

• Emma Aicher (GER) 3: Downhill St. Moritz, Super-G Tarvis, Super-G Soldeu
• Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) 3: Slalom Alta Badia, Slalom Wengen, Slalom Kranjska Gora
• Laura Pirovano (ITA) 3: Downhill Val di Fassa, Downhill Val di Fassa, Downhill Kvitfjell
• Paco Rassat (FRA) 2: Slalom Gurgl, Slalom Adelboden
• Lindsey Vonn (USA) 2: Downhill St. Moritz, Downhill Altenmarkt-Zauchensee
• Franjo von Allmen (SUI) 2: Downhill Val Gardena, Downhill Crans Montana
• Camille Rast (SUI) 2: Giant Slalom Kranjska Gora, Slalom Kranjska Gora
• Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) 2: Super-G Beaver Creek, Downhill Courchevel
• Cornelia Hütter (AUT) 1: Downhill Val d’Isere
• Sara Hector (SWE) 1: Giant Slalom Spindleruv Mlyn
• Corinne Suter (SUI) 1: Downhill Soldeu
• Elena Curtoni (ITA) 1: Super-G Val di Fassa

2nd places (30)

• Camille Rast (SUI) 5: Slalom Courchevel, Giant Slalom Semmering, Slalom Semmering, Giant Slalom Kronplatz, Slalom Spindleruv Mlyn
• Emma Aicher (GER) 3: Super-G Soldeu, Downhill Val di Fassa, Slalom Aare
• Franjo von Allmen (SUI) 3: Downhill Val Gardena, Super-G Kitzbühel, Downhill Kvitfjell
• Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) 3: Super-G Copper Mountain, Downhill Wengen, Super-G Kvitfjell
• Lindsey Vonn (USA) 2: Downhill St. Moritz, Super-G Tarvis
• Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) 2: Downhill Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Super-G Val di Fassa
• Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) 2: Slalom Adelboden, Slalom Schladming
• Armand Marchant (BEL) 1: Slalom Gurgl
• Lena Dürr (GER) 1: Slalom Copper Mountain
• Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) 1: Downhill Beaver Creek
• Sara Hector (SWE) 1: Giant Slalom Mont Tremblant
• Magdalena Egger (AUT) 1: Downhill St. Moritz
• Stefan Babinsky (AUT) 1: Super-G Wengen
• Nina Ortlieb (AUT) 1: Downhill Soldeu
• Cornelia Hütter (AUT) 1: Downhill Val di Fassa
• Corinne Suter (SUI) 1: Super-G Kvitfjell
• Wendy Holdener (SUI) 1: Slalom Hafjell

3rd places (26)

• Emma Aicher (GER) 4: Slalom Levi, Slalom Courchevel, Slalom Spindleruv Mlyn, Slalom Hafjell
• Lindsey Vonn (USA) 3: Downhill Val d’Isere, Super-G Val d’Isere, Downhill Tarvis
• Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) 3: Giant Slalom Sölden, Slalom Gurgl, Giant Slalom Hafjell
• Sara Hector (SWE) 2: Giant Slalom Semmering, Giant Slalom Kronplatz
• Franjo von Allmen (SUI) 2: Super-G Livigno, Super-G Wengen
• Corinne Suter (SUI) 2: Super-G Soldeu, Downhill Val di Fassa
• Wendy Holdener (SUI) 2: Slalom Kranjska Gora, Slalom Aare
• Camille Rast (SUI) 1: Slalom Gurgl
• Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) 1: Giant Slalom Sölden
• Paco Rassat (FRA) 1: Slalom Madonna di Campiglio
• Stefan Babinsky (AUT) 1: Super-G Kitzbühel
• Linus Straßer (GER) 1: Slalom Kitzbühel
• Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) 1: Downhill Crans Montana
• Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) 1: Super-G Soldeu
• Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) 1: Downhill Kvitfjell