Ricarda Haaser’s latest comeback, already with her teammates, Favrot’s return and then Sarrazin... bound for Ushuaia

Many comebacks will be carried out directly on South American snow, where numerous World Cup stars will find out what shape they are really in after lengthy layoffs.

Unfortunately, that will not be the case for Federica Brignone, while Ricarda Haaser has chosen to put her skis back on in Ushuaia, without any prior testing, just under six months after the latest setback suffered by the versatile Austrian, who will celebrate her 33rd birthday on 10 September directly in Tierra del Fuego, having arrived there last week alongside, among others, Julia Scheib and Nina Ortlieb.

The Tyrolean is recovering from her second serious injury within a year: first, in the super-G at the 2025 Saalbach World Championships, a torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee; then, at the end of February 2026 in the super-G in Soldeu, a fracture of the tibial plateau in her left leg. This came the day after a solid 19th-place finish in the downhill and a positive comeback at the end of December in the giant slalom in Semmering.

Thibaut Favrot had major back problems throughout last season, stopping in the spring and undergoing surgery. He has now resumed full training, also returning to the snow at the Wittenburg ski dome, which is also used by the French slalom specialists, who are ready to leave for Argentina. The Alsatian giant slalom specialist will also train at Cerro Castor throughout September and is finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel after so many problems: “A major milestone reached – Thibaut wrote on social media yesterday – after 5 months without skis, two operations and a huge amount of physical work.

It’s only one step, and the biggest part of the training will be in Argentina”.

As for the Equipe de France, the speed specialists from the men’s World Cup team have already flown to Chile, from Allegre to Muzaton, but without Sam Alphand and Cyprien Sarrazin. In the former’s case, this is due to the after-effects of the right shoulder surgery he underwent last spring, with a gradual recovery that will see him return to the slopes in Argentina only in a few days. As for the Savoyard, twice the king of the Streif in 2024, during the final stage of his very long rehabilitation—which had already included group training since last off-season’s tests—he has chosen not to ski with his “jet” teammates at La Parva, reached by the downhill specialists last Sunday, and Nevados de Chillan, but instead in Ushuaia from next 1° September.

“Cyp” wants to train with the technical disciplines group. The giant slalom foundation will be essential for him before he finds out whether everything is in place for a return to the World Cup, almost two years after the ordeal he experienced in Bormio.