The Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen crushes the competition against the Sölden giant for the resumption of the season

2026 is the year of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen. The Brazilian, giant world champion and winner of the specialty globe for the first time in his career, continued his momentum by winning on Sunday October 25 on the giant of Sölden, one of the high places of the specialty. Pinheiro Braathen set the pace, beating the two Swiss Loïc Meillard and Marco Odermatt by almost half a second.

Last to start after setting the best time in the first round, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen quickly got everyone in agreement. The Auriverde attacked the wall of the Austrian track with full force, and was 0"61 ahead at the second intermediate. He signed the second victory of his career in Sölden after 2020, and sent a first message to the competition as a giant.

“I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders today,” he reacted to the organization’s microphone. But pressure is a privilege. It's a real relief to start the season like this. I looked for new curiosities, new paths to take with new objectives. From the second part of last season, I knew how to transform pressure into freedom. This was the state of mind I wanted to maintain for this first race, not to hesitate when I set off against such fierce competitors."

At the head of these, Loïc Meillard and Marco Odermatt almost recreated the same crazy scenario as that of the day before on this same track for the opening of the women's season with the victory of the American Paula Moltzan by only a hundredth of a second. The same gap with which Meillard was ahead of his compatriot, who so often in his career had the dust of time in his favor. For his 200th World Cup start, Marco Odermatt will have to be satisfied with a 103rd career podium and valuable points in his quest for a sixth consecutive general classification in the World Cup.

The French have not managed to join in with the elite. Nice comeback for Léo Anguenot, 9th and who moved up fourteen places after an average first round. Thibaut Favrot finished 13th, the revelation at the start of 2026 Alban Elezi Cannaferina 24th. Guerlain Favre (36th), Diego Orecchioni (37th), Loevan Parand (44th) did not qualify for the second round, Thomas Lardon fell without seriousness.