As usual, the new Alpine skiing season will begin on the last weekend of October in Sölden, Austria. Despite all the discussions about climate change, this will be no different for the start of the 2025 World Cup.
And as usual, the new ski season will open with two giant slaloms: the women will start on Saturday (October 25), followed by the men on Sunday (October 26).
Here you can find all the information about the Sölden 2025 World Cup start: start times, broadcast, favorites, and betting odds.
Sölden 2025: Schedule, races & broadcast
The program for the Sölden World Cup start 2025
The Ski World Cup start 2025 in Sölden will follow the usual pattern again this year: there will be two giant slalom races – one for the women and one for the men.
Sölden 2025 will begin with the women’s giant slalom on Saturday (October 25), followed by the men’s giant slalom on Sunday (October 26).
The start times for the Ski World Cup opener are the same on both days for both races: the first run starts at 10:00 a.m., and the second run starts at 1:00 p.m.
Sölden 2025: Schedule & Start Times
- Sat, Oct. 25, 10:00 a.m.: Women’s giant slalom, 1st run:
- Sat, Oct. 25, 1:00 p.m.: Women’s giant slalom, 2nd run
- Sun, 26, 10:00 a.m.: Men’s giant slalom, 1st run
- Sun., 26, 1:00 p.m.: Men’s giant slalom, 2nd run
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Sölden World Cup 2025: TV and livestream coverage
Who will be broadcasting the 2025 Ski World Cup in Sölden live on TV and via livestream in Germany and Austria?
The Sölden 2025 broadcast will be available in the Wintersport Live program on the respective public broadcasters on free TV and via livestream.
In Germany, Sölden 2025 will be broadcast live on ZDF, while in Austria, ORF will show the World Cup opener live.
The Sölden World Cup broadcast on ZDF
On both days, Sölden will be broadcast live on ZDF, but only from the second run onwards. On Saturday, ZDF will broadcast from 12:15 p.m. and on Sunday, half an hour later from 12:45 p.m. for the men’s giant slalom.
Amelie Stiefvatter will host the live broadcasts on ZDF’s Sölden TV coverage. Marco Büchel will be on site as an expert on both days. Julius Hilfenhaus (women) and Fabian Meseberg (men) will commentate on the Sölden 2025 races on ZDF.
However, the first runs of both races at the World Cup start will not be shown live on TV by ZDF, but only via livestream on sportstudio.de and the ZDF streaming portal.
Sölden live on ZDF
If you want to watch Sölden live on TV in Germany on Saturday and Sunday (including the first run of the women’s and men’s races), Eurosport is the place to be.
As the sports channel is included on the DAZN sports streaming platform, there will also be a Sölden 2025 livestream on DAZN.
Sölden live on TV: How ORF will broadcast the 2025 World Cup opener
In Austria, the 2025 World Cup opener will be shown extensively on ORF as usual. Both on Saturday for the women’s giant slalom and on Sunday for the men’s giant slalom, the Sölden program will start at 9:25 a.m., more than 35 minutes before the start of the first run.
For the two second runs, the Sölden 2025 broadcast will begin at 12:30 p.m., again half an hour before the official start time of 1:00 p.m.
Sölden broadcast on ORF
ORF is sending a six-person team to the traditional World Cup opener on the Rettenbachferner Glacier.
The commentary teams for ORF’s Sölden TV broadcast are Peter Brunner and Nicole Hosp (women) and Oliver Polzer and Hans Knauß (men). The World Cup opener will be hosted by Rainer Pariasek. He will be joined by Benni Raich as the third expert.
The giant slalom favorites for Sölden 2025
Who will win the men’s giant slalom at the 2025 World Cup opener in Sölden?
Marco Odermatt has been the dominant force in giant slalom in recent years. The Swiss all-rounder also won the giant slalom World Cup last season. However, Odermatt was eliminated at last year’s World Cup opener in Sölden.
Nevertheless, Odermatt is the big favorite for the opening victory in the Sölden 2025 forecast by experts and betting providers. The odds for an Odermatt victory are around 2.20.
The difference to the other favorites is significant: the other favorites, such as Loic Meillard and Henrik Kristoffersen, are entering the race with odds of 6.00 and 8.00 respectively. With such high odds, the Interwetten freebet is perfect – a bet with it is completely risk-free!
As clear as the Sölden forecast and prediction of the sports betting providers for Odermatt may be, Odermatt did NOT win the last four giant slaloms of the past season.
Meillard won the last two giant slaloms of the previous season – both times ahead of Odermatt. Henrik Kristoffersen, winner of the third-to-last giant slalom of the previous season, was number 2 in the giant slalom World Cup – behind Odermatt and ahead of Meillard.
Behind the top trio, however, there are a few other Sölden 2025 favorites for victory at the World Cup start.
Norwegian-Brazilian Lucas Braathen is also among the extended circle of favorites in the Interwetten rating, as is Swiss Thomas Tumler.
But three Austrians also have good chances of a home victory or a podium finish: Stefan Brennsteiner, Stefan Schwarz, and reigning giant slalom world champion Raphael Haaser.
World Cup Start 2025: Who will win the women’s giant slalom?
Who will win the women’s giant slalom at the World Cup Start 2025 in Sölden?
The women’s giant slalom World Cup went to Federica Brignone last season. However, the Italian, who also won the overall World Cup last winter, will not be competing in the 2025 race in Sölden due to injury.
This means that the list of favorites is very long and extensive. The number two in the giant slalom World Cup behind Brignone was Alice Robinson, ahead of Sara Hector. In the Sölden predictions by bookmakers with a German sports betting license, the two are just as far ahead as Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami, who won the last race of the previous season.
Lara Colturi could also be a winner in the women’s Sölden 2025 broadcast. The Albanian raced to the podium twice last season and finished fourth in the giant slalom World Cup.
However, Mikaela Shiffrin is also high on the list of contenders for the Sölden World Cup opener in 2025.
The American has already won the season opener twice, most recently in 2021. But: Last season did not go optimally for Shiffrin in the giant slalom. Nevertheless, the betting odds for the Sölden women’s giant slalom see Shiffrin among the favorites!
The best Sölden bets for the 2025 World Cup start
As soon as a major event takes center stage, general interest grows – and this year is no exception when it comes to the first ski races of the new season.
In the sports betting community, skiing tends to take a back seat for most of the winter, but with a highlight like the World Cup start in Sölden, things are a little different. Established and new betting providers alike then offer a few more betting markets.
- 1. Win bet
- 2. Place bet
- 3. Head-to-head
