In a race filled with treacherous stumbles, the Swiss skiers triumphed in Val d'Isère, sweeping the giant slalom World Cup podium.

Loic Meillard emerged victorious through all the chaos, finding his way to the top of the podium with a time of 2:10.07 after finishing 5th following the first run. The win was Meillard’s first victory of the 2025-26 season, and his first giant slalom victory in Val d'Isère in ten career starts. 

The win was the perfect rebound for Meillard, who had a slow start to the season. The Swiss standout particularly struggled in the U.S. races; he failed to crack the top 15 in the Copper Mountain giant slalom and super-G races, and recorded a then-season best 9th in the Beaver Creek giant slalom race to go with a super-G DNF.

Luca Aerni finished in second place (+0.18), despite a first run stumble putting him down in 13th. A strong second run (the second fastest of the day) helped Aerni rise 11 places in the standings and stand on his first giant slalom (and second ever) World Cup podium. It is Aerni's first time cracking the top 10 since January 2025, and equaled his carreer-best World Cup finish.

Unsurprisingly, Marco Odermatt (+0.33) once again found his way onto the podium, though it was a rare case where the "Swissblade" was third instead of first. Odermatt was chasing a fifth-consecutive win in Val d'Isère, and looked to be in a strong position after his first run. However, a close encounter with a gate in the middle of his second run robbed him of the chance to take the win.

For the second straight weekend, American River Radamus finished in a hard-fought sixth place. After finishing down in 21st after Run 1, Radamus put together an electric second run (the fastest out of the entire field) to shoot up 15 places.

Joining Radamus in the top 10 was American Ryder Sarchett, who clawed his way up to 10th after finishing in 23rd after Run 1. It is a best-ever World Cup result for Sarchett, who began racing on the World Cup circuit in March of 2024, and his first entrance into the top 15 of a World Cup race.

Ultimately, the word of the day in France had to be clean, which proved a stiff challenge for the top Alpine skiers in the world. More than a few racers struggled through the course’s sharp turns, banging into gates and finding their sides pressed against the snow as they fought to maintain their momentum through the impacts.

For many competitors, they will have just a single night of rest before returning to the course in Val d'Isère for the World Cup slalom race on Sunday morning. The first runs will kick off at 3:30 a.m. ET.