The Ski Roll World Cup in Val di Fiemme: everything will be decided on the roads of Trentino from September 18 to 20, and Italy...

The Ski Roll World Cup is approaching its conclusion in Val di Fiemme. After providing spectacular action in the first two stages between Trollhaettan, Sweden, and Madona, Latvia, where Italy won four medals at the event that awarded the world titles, the 2026 season is ready for its grand finale in the Trentino Dolomites.

The top international circuit got under way in the rainy Swedish town with a 1.3 km freestyle sprint, won by the Swedish athletes Anton Grahn and Johanna Hagstroem. The classical-technique mass start then saw Norwegian Olympic champion Astrid Oeyre Slind and Briton Andrew Musgrave take center stage, while the 15 km individual race in classical technique once again rewarded the Swedes Edvin Anger and Elin Henriksson.

The second stage in Latvia was the highlight of the season, with the ski rollers also competing for the World Championship titles, delivering a four-medal haul for the Italian team. The event opened with world titles for Norwegians Andreas Bergsland and Ragnhild Aarekol. Italy’s first success, however, was not long in coming in the women’s Team Sprint, thanks to the silver medal won by Trentino’s Maria Eugenia Boccardi and Anna Maria Ghiddi from Modena, who fought all the way to the finish with the winning Norwegians Aarekol and Kjosavik.

In the men’s event, home athletes Lauris Kaparkalejs and world champion Raimo Vigants won an equally hard-fought Team Sprint. Trentino’s Giovanni Lorenzetti and Tommaso Dellagiacoma, however, were left bitterly disappointed, seeing their medal hopes slip away right at the finish and ending just off the podium.

Italy’s first gold at the World Championships came courtesy of an extraordinary Emanuele Becchis. All eyes were on the athlete from Cuneo, who proved unbeatable over the 200-meter course, thereby claiming his fifth world title in the event. Trentino’s Michele Valerio took an outstanding silver, getting the better of a determined Lauris Kaparkalejs and completing a remarkable Italian one-two. In the women’s event, Belluno’s Alba Mortagna was unfortunately unable to confirm the first place she had achieved in qualifying, reaching the final but finishing fourth.

The Madona event concluded with another Italian podium finish and another medal for Maria Eugenia Boccardi, who took third place in the skating mass start won by Norway’s Aarekol. Another fourth-place finish, meanwhile, went to Tommaso Dellagiacoma, who ended the mass-start race in fourth after an exciting contest won by Vigants.

The action now moves to the Trentino valley, which will once again award the coveted crystal globes in what promises to be an unmissable three-day event. With just one stage remaining, Raimo Vigants and Ragnhild Aarekol lead both the Overall and Sprint standings. The Italians, however, remain ready to strike the decisive blow on home roads.

The event begins on Friday, September 18, with a 10 km classical-technique mass start: the race will start in the center of Ziano di Fiemme before heading along the spectacular slopes of Alpe Cermis.

Saturday, September 19, will be dedicated to the freestyle Sprint, scheduled on the famous straight stretch of Via Nazionale over a 200-meter course that will put the spotlight on Becchis and Valerio. On Sunday, September 20, the world’s top ski rollers will take to the course for the TL Team Sprint, a relay race held on a 2.24 km circuit.

Val di Fiemme, with the work of the Nordic Ski Val di Fiemme committee, is eagerly awaiting the awarding of the crystal globes. But the valley will not stop there, launching its events with the Nordic Combined World Cup from December 11 to 13, followed by the FIS Ski Jumping Continental Cup on December 19 and 20 and the 21st Tour de Ski, from January 8 to 10, 2027.