HEAD Worldcup Rebels Start The Olympic Season In Sölden As The Top Team
The best ski team in the World Championships with three Gold medals in the individual events, the best ski team in the World Cup with 20 victories and 7900 points in the FIS Brand Ranking; that is the HEAD Worldcup Rebels' impressive tally as they start the Olympic season in Sölden on a mission to defend their title. Leading the strong HEAD team at the opening Giant Slaloms on 25th and 26th October on the Rettenbach glacier run is the winner of the Olympic Giant Slalom, Sara Hector; the Giant Slalom World Cup champion 2023/24 and three-time winner in Sölden, Lara Gut-Behrami; as well as Atle Lie McGrath, who raced to third place in Sölden last season.
"Sölden always sets the bar for everyone. In previous years we have seen that athletes who ski well in Sölden perform well for the rest of the season. That is why Sölden is an important systems check," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "From the company's point of view, Sölden is especially exciting. We have an opportunity to try things out beforehand, and the opening event is when we find out which setup each athlete has decided to go for."
Before the opening event of the season, HEAD is hosting a press conference on Thursday, 23rd October at 3 pm at the Giggijoch valley station with Lukas Feurstein, Vincent Kriechmayr, Stephanie Brunner, Cornelia Hütter, Lara Gut-Behrami, Wendy Holdener, Camille Rast, Justin Murisier, Atle Lie McGrath, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, Emma Aicher, Lena Dürr, Alexander Schmid, Linus Straßer, AJ Hurt, Sara Hector, Alexis Pinturault and Marta Bassino.
"In the women's Giant Slalom, several of our athletes are among the favourites: Lara Gut-Behrami, who has already won Sölden, Sara Hector and Camille Rast. The men's team is a bit thinner on the ground when it comes to the Giant Slalom," says Rainer Salzgeber. "Atle Lie McGrath came third last year, and is very well prepared. Alexis Pinturault had a short season last year, and we will see how well he has recovered. Anton Grammel is one of our strongest Giant Slalom skiers. Ultimately, our goal is to be on the podium. But that depends very much on how the races go. The important thing is that we confirm in Sölden that we are ready to take on the competition."
Lara Gut-Behrami has already won the Giant Slalom in Sölden three times: in 2013, 2016 and most recently in 2023. In the 2023/24 season, the Swiss athlete won the Crystal Globe in this discipline; in total, the 34-year-old has stood on top of the Giant Slalom podium ten times in the World Cup. "I'm doing well, and I had a very good summer, healthy and accident-free. My goal is to stay healthy for the whole season and to ski as fast as possible," says Lara Gut-Behrami, looking forward to getting started.
The Giant Slalom is Sara Hector's favourite discipline. The Swedish athlete won the Gold medal in this discipline at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. The 33-year-old finished second in the Giant Slalom rankings in 2021/22 and third in 2024/25, and she has also notched up seven World Cup victories in the Giant Slalom so far. Best Sölden result was fourth place in 2023. "Sölden is always very early, of course, which means we haven't had a lot of training by then, but I think it will be great fun and I'm ready to give it my all!" says Sara Hector, looking forward to the season opening on 25th October.
Camille Rast was one of the shooting stars last season. The Swiss athlete celebrated winning the Slalom Gold medal at the World Championships in Saalbach, she won her first two World Cup races - also in Slalom - and finished third in Killington, racing to a place on the podium in the Giant Slalom for the first time. In Sölden she finished twelfth last year. "My summer was very intense. I had more issues to deal with than usual. Above all, I had to get over a hip injury following my fall in Sestriere. The injury was more complicated and took longer to heal than expected. I'm feeling better, but I still have to take some time to heal properly," says the 26-year-old. "Sölden comes very early in the season. We always wish we had a few more days to prepare, but I'm super motivated to get started."
In addition to Sara Hector (3rd), Lara Gut-Behrami (5th) and Camille Rast (9th), two other HEAD athletes finished in the top 15 in the overall ranking for the Giant Slalom: AJ Hurt from the USA in 13th place and Wendy Holdener from Switzerland, who finished in 15th place.
Atle Lie McGrath and Anton Grammel lead the men’s HEAD team
In the men's Giant Slalom, Atle Lie McGrath is the number one in the HEAD Worldcup Rebels. The Norwegian athlete has already reached the podium three times in this discipline, most recently in third place in Sölden last year. "Last year, I felt very relaxed before Sölden and then skied well there. So this year I have the same plan: I'll simply trust the way I ski, relax, and have fun. Then anything is possible!" says the 25-year-old.
Anton Grammel will be at the start in Sölden on 26th October as number two in the HEAD team. The 27-year-old German athlete raced into the top ten for the first time in his career last season when he finished tenth in both the Giant Slaloms in Hafjell and Sun Valley. Grammel's compatriot Linus Straßer has just joined the HEAD team. The 32-year-old is aiming for a consistent and successful season: "Switching to HEAD makes me feel even more motivated. This season, I definitely want to be consistently competitive and aim for the podium in every Slalom."
Lukas Feurstein has a clear goal for Sölden: "I want to bag my first points on the Rettenbach Glacier! Summer training has gone very well. I'm very satisfied and looking forward to the new season, where I simply want to ski more consistently. I want to bring the results that I got last winter to the snow more often." The Austrian athlete won the Super-G in Sun Valley in March 2025, his first World Cup victory. Previously, the 24-year-old skied his best Giant Slalom in February 2024, when he finished in tenth place in Palisades Tahoe.
Olympic Games in Milan & Cortina as the season highlight
The highlight of this season is the Olympic Games, which will take place from 6th to 22nd February, mainly in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. "A major event like the Olympic Games naturally has a special flair," says Rainer Salzgeber. "But every race matters to us, regardless of whether it's the Olympic Games or the World Cup. What we have achieved in the past is always a yardstick for us. We had a very successful World Championships this year. The last Olympic Games in China were also outstanding. The team is quite a bit smaller since then, but I still hope that we can demonstrate how strong we are again."
HEAD Worldcup Rebels want to stay number 1 in the World Cup again
In addition to a successful Olympic Games, another major goal for the season is to stay at the top of the FIS brand ranking, as in previous years. "If our best athletes perform well and stay healthy, they provide a sound basis for achieving this success again," says Rainer Salzgeber. New members of the HEAD Worldcup Rebels team this season alongside Linus Straßer include the Italian athlete Marta Bassino and the British athlete Billy Major. World Champion Stephanie Venier from Austria has decided to end her World Cup career. Likewise Elisabeth Kappaurer and Elisabeth Reisinger from Austria, as well as Dominik Schwaiger from Germany. In October, Mathieu Faivre also announced his retirement. The French athlete won three World Championship titles and a Bronze medal at the 2022 Olympic Games. That said, some new talents have also joined the team and are expected to provide one or two surprises this season. "I very much hope that Oscar Sandvik will transition successfully into the World Cup as the overall winner of the Europa Cup. What I've seen of him in training in New Zealand is very promising. It would be great if he could quickly find his way into the World Cup," says Rainer Salzgeber.
