Alpine skiing waves fond farewell to greats & fan favourites

The end of every season is tinged with sadness as some much-loved faces ski off into the sunset, but those featuring an Olympic Winter Games are often particularly poignant. And so it has proved in 2025/26 with tears aplenty as we say goodbye to a host of stars.

Pinturault closes ‘incredible career’

An Audi FIS World Cup without Alexis Pinturault (FRA/Head) hardly seems possible, but after 17 years of lighting up the slopes, the Frenchman has indeed called it a day.

The reaction of his peers to his announcement said it all. Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli) swift to show his admiration (and his age!) by revealing he grew up with a poster of Pinturault on his wall, while fellow superstar Lindsey Vonn (USA/Head) hailed Pinturault’s “incredible career” as Linus Strasser (GER/Head) labelled him “one of the best skiers the sport has ever seen”.

A dive into the numbers backs-up the German’s assertion. Not only is Pinturault a double Alpine Combined world champion – the 2023 title won in front of adoring fans at home in Courchevel – and a three-time Olympic medallist, he also heads to the beach with a vast 34 World Cup victories across disciplines to his name.

That places him ninth on the all-time men’s winner’s list, just ahead of another all-round icon; Bode Miller (USA). Add on the fact he has more Giant Slalom victories than Alberto Tomba (ITA) and it is clear Pinturault’s place in Alpine skiing’s pantheon is forever secure.

Now, however, the man who beat Odermatt to the Overall Crystal Globe in 2020/21 is ready for the next step.

Adios to speed Queen Stuhec

While Pinturault will be missed by speed and technical fans alike, it will no doubt take downhillers a long time to get used to the idea of a startlist without Ilka Stuhec (SLO/Kaestle). The Slovenian was a true out-and-out speedster who consistently made the world’s most terrifying slopes look like fun.

At the height of her powers, Stuhec outshone even Vonn, relegating the American to bronze at both the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, while she claimed double gold.

Seemingly always smiling, Stuhec amassed 1,325 points in the 2016/17 World Cup season, winning four Downhills, two Super Gs and an Alpine combined. Incredibly, it wasn’t quite enough for a longed-for Big Globe, with Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Atomic) bagging 11 wins to deny her. Not that it wiped the smile of the Slovenian’s face.

Three top-10s last season, including a fourth in the Val d’Isere Downhill, showed that the three-time Olympian still has it, even as she chooses to place her energy elsewhere.

Slovenia was also sad to say goodbye to another fine servant, with Anna Bucik Jogan (SLO/Salomon) packing away the race skis after 212 World Cup starts.

Veteran stars say goodbye

The fond farewells do not stop there. After overcoming his biggest battle off the snow, three-time World Cup winner Niels Hintermann (SUI/Atomic) has decided to channel his energies elsewhere.

While Hintermann seeks new challenges at the sprightly age of 30, Romed Baumann (GER/Salomon) and Adrien Theaux (FRA/Salomon) depart after dedicating more than two decades of their lives to the World Cup tour.

The 40-year-old Baumann retires having made more Downhill World Cup starts than other man in history, while Theaux, a year his senior, competed in a smile-inducing 334 elite-level races.

Both were blessed with multiple career highlights. The German nabbing two world championship gongs (Super G silver in 2021 and Alpine Combined bronze in 2013) while the ‘Daddy’ of the French men’s team rated his third place in the Hahnenkamm Downhill in 2011 as one of his proudest moments.

The fact he finished just behind Didier Cuche (SUI) that day and then spent his final years racing Odermatt, who grew up idolising the great Cuche shows just how long Theaux has been at the top.

Dave Ryding (GBR/Head) may not have quite reached his fourth decade yet, but the Brit will be just as sorely missed as his former French and German colleagues.

Long-tasked with carrying his nation’s hopes all alone, Ryding has left a mighty legacy. Having learned to ski on a wild, windy dry ski slope in the north of England, ‘The Rocket’ finishes as a five-time Olympian, owner of six World Cup podium places and his nation’s first ever World Cup victor.

Enough to have set a platform which the likes of Laurie Taylor (GBR/Head) and Billy Major (GBR/Head) are gratefully benefiting from.

Batons handed to Next Gen

Where Ryding made waves for Britain, AJ Ginnis (GRE/Van Deer) did just the same for Greece. Slalom silver at the 2023 World Championships was historic, as was Ginnis’ World Cup Slalom runners-up spot just a few weeks previously.

Injuries played a major role in limiting Ginnis’ subsequent progress, something fellow world championship medallist Marc Rochat (SUI/Nordica) knows all about. The Swiss picked up a superb Team Combined bronze in 2025, and, in the end, that proved a highlight as opposed to a springboard.

Across the nations teams are waving thankful goodbyes to valued competitors. Canada’s Riley Seger (Rossignol) is one of those, as is German Sebastian Holzmann (Voelkl) whose post below says it all beautifully:

There is no doubt that World Cup will be a different place next season, with space of course for new names to jump up. Who, for instance, might replace Asa Ando (JPN/Atomic) as Japan’s leading performer? Twenty-six times the 30-year-old has scored World Cup points, as well as representing her nation at three Olympic Games.

With every career telling a story, Joana Hählen (SUI/Atomic) will no doubt one day tell family members how she not only came sixth in the 2022 Olympic Downhill, but also how she was within just 0.10 seconds of grabbing a World Cup victory.

Christina Ager (Atomic) can emphasise with such a close call. The Austrian began her World Cup career with an extraordinary fourth place from bib No.53 in the 2013 Levi Slalom. But she, like all her fellow retirees can now sit back and enjoy watching the next generation follow in the unique tracks they’ve made.