Cande Moreno finishes 19th in Zauchensee downhill training; Xavier Cornella claims FIS slalom victory in

Andorran skier Cande Moreno placed 19th in the first women's World Cup downhill training run at Zauchensee, Austria, on Friday, recording 1:21.76—1.26 seconds off the pace set by Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann. Moreno, who started with bib 54, showed strong partial times, including the 13th quickest in the first sector and 12th in the final one despite challenging conditions that delayed the session by an hour. Teammate Jordina Caminal finished 54th with bib 52 in 1:24.14, improving progressively across sectors to gain valuable references on the demanding course. A second training run is scheduled for Saturday, followed by the downhill race at 11:30 a.m. that day and super-G at noon Sunday.

The pair arrived from a preparation camp at Italy's Passo San Pellegrino. Caminal secured her spot thanks to Moreno's 26th-place finish at the season-opening World Cup in St. Moritz, which earned Andorra an additional quota. The Andorran Ski Federation intends to enter both women plus one man in the speed events.

In Italy, Xavier Cornella won the second FIS slalom at Valle di Casies on Friday, clocking 1:18.73 to beat Hans Peter Picco by 0.12 seconds. Cornella dominated both runs, earning 23.00 FIS points—matching his Soldeu victory on December 29 and improving on his previous total of 24.15. Bartumeu Gabriel took sixth at +1.11, Àlex Rius eighth at +1.29, and Italy's Matteo Avesani claimed third at +0.79.

Cornella had earned silver on Thursday in 1:17.36, 0.90 seconds behind Picco, with Germany's Marvin Fuhr third at +1.03 and Gabriel fourth at +1.30 after leading the first run. Rius placed 12th at +2.26 that day.

Íria Medina returns to Europa Cup giant slalom competition in Sestriere, Italy, with races on Friday and Saturday. After an FIS slalom win in Soldeu and a 63rd place in one Ahrntal Europa Cup slalom (with a DNF in the other), she switches disciplines. Medina's season includes a 35th and DNF in Mayrhofen giant slaloms, plus four top-10 FIS results—highlighted by third at Pass Thurn with 30.36 points, her best. First runs begin at 10 a.m., seconds at 12:30 p.m. both days.