Andorran Skier Joan Verdú Claims 19th in Alta Badia World Cup Giant Slalom

**Andorran skier Joan Verdú claims 19th in Alta Badia World Cup giant slalom**

Joan Verdú returned to the points with a 19th-place finish in the World Cup giant slalom at Alta Badia, Italy, securing 12 points after recent retirements at Beaver Creek and Val d'Isère. The performance raised his season total to 49 points, leaving him 23rd in the discipline standings with a 17-point buffer over the 26th spot needed for finals qualification.

Wearing bib 21, Verdú posted 1:18.03 in the first run to take provisional 19th, 2.03 seconds behind the pace despite an early slip he recovered from with skill. He gained ground in the closing sections of the challenging Gran Risa course, where he earned fifth place in 2023. Starting 12th in the second run, he pushed hard, leading provisionally at first with strong sector splits. A mistake—an inside ski on the wall in the third sector—nearly unseated him and dropped him to fifth provisional, but his 1:18.53 ranked 10th fastest overall. His aggregate 2:36.56 trailed winner Marco Schwarz of Austria (2:35.02) by 1.54 seconds, with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil second and Stefan Brennsteiner of Austria third.

The result signals renewed momentum for Verdú, who debuted at Alta Badia in 2017 and has prior finishes of 12th in 2022 and fifth in 2023. "This was a key race to rebuild feel, ski solidly and with confidence," he said. He described the second run positively despite the error: "I skied well overall, but that mid-course slip cost positions in such a tight field." Verdú stressed fine margins—"details, tenths of a second that can shift you ten spots"—and looked ahead to more training before the January 10 World Cup in Adelboden.

**Cande Moreno falls just short of points in Val d'Isère super-G**

Cande Moreno ended 32nd in the World Cup super-G at Val d'Isère, France, missing 30th place and points by 0.28 seconds. Her 1:22.46 trailed winner Sofia Goggia of Italy by 2.22 seconds; she led sectors one and five but faded mid-run, slipping behind Christina Ager of Austria after holding provisional 30th. Moreno placed 42nd in Saturday's downhill and sits 34th in super-G standings ahead of Zauchensee.

"I'm quite disappointed," she said. "I'm skiing at a level to hit top-30 reliably, but races slip away on errors I can't afford. I'll need to work harder in January."

**Caminal secures career-best Europa Cup downhill**

Jordina Caminal finished fourth in Friday's second downhill at St. Moritz (1:33.76 from bib 2), 0.87 seconds off Leonie Zegg of Austria. The 50 points lifted her to seventh in the downhill table (72 total) and improved her FIS points to 31.08, topping her previous day's 12th—the strongest Europa Cup speed result for an Andorran woman.

**Other results**

In Europa Cup, Carla Mijares took 23rd in Ahrntal slalom; Íria Medina did not finish. Àlex Rius was 38th in Obereggen slalom; Xavier Cornella and Bartumeu Gabriel (36th at Val di Fassa) also raced. Lucas Pagès ranked 15th in Pinzolo telemark sprint. Roger Puig placed 14th in St. Moritz Paralympic giant slalom.

Max Black of EEBE U19 won men's slalom at the Blanca Fernández Ochoa Trophy in Baqueira (1:57.78), ahead of Eric Doliwa by 0.42 seconds; Etna Pou of Mapex2100 topped the women's event. The Popeyes U14/U16 Cup began at El Tarter.