The essence of the 3Tre lies in its ability to surprise: with the beauty of Madonna di Campiglio and the Brenta Dolomites as a backdrop, the warmth of the crowd lining the course, and the performances of the world’s best slalom skiers threading the rapid gates. And, often, with the final result itself. The Canalone Miramonti is a slope for champions, but one that has always resisted pre-written scripts.

The 72nd edition, staged tomorrow evening (Wednesday, January 7th), will be no exception. Perfectly prepared and hardened by consistently low temperatures, the track will offer every athlete the chance to shine and to write a new chapter in a remarkably balanced slalom season, which has already produced four different winners from four World Cup races and nine different podium finishers.

Everything suggests that this balance will translate in Madonna as well: in each of the last five editions of the 3Tre, the winner has prevailed by less than half a second. It is a clear indicator of both the race’s inherent unpredictability and its standout technical level. With the Milano Cortina Olympic Games now just one month away, every result carries added weight for those nurturing ambitions of Olympic glory.

The start list brings together experience and emerging talent at the highest level. Leading the established names are Henrik Kristoffersen and Daniel Yule, both three-time winners on the Canalone Miramonti, alongside current World Cup slalom leader Timon Haugan, the Austrians Marco Schwarz – winner here in 2023 – and Manuel Feller, and reigning World champion Loïc Meillard. They are joined by a younger but already proven generation, including Clément Noël, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath, all still chasing their first victory on the Miramonti and their first Maglia Fulmine.

As always, the 3Tre also provides a stage for the new wave. France’s Paco Rassat, no longer a youngster at 27 but a breakthrough performer this season following his World Cup victory in Gurgl, arrives with growing confidence. Alongside him is Finland’s Eduard Hallberg, just 22 and eager to make his mark, perhaps following a path once traced by former 3Tre protagonist Kalle Palander.

Defending the title is Bulgaria’s Albert Popov, who delivered the race of his life here twelve months ago. So far, however, he has struggled to find the same brilliance in an Olympic season that was expected to confirm his definitive arrival among the elite.

It is against this backdrop of anticipation and excitement – despite temperatures remaining firmly below zero – that the athletes will step into the starting gate on the Canalone Miramonti, ready as ever to welcome thousands of passionate spectators. Madonna di Campiglio is steeped in the atmosphere of a major international event, with a renewed sense of expectation for Italian success in the season of home Olympic Games.

There have been encouraging signs from Italian slalom in recent weeks. Alex Vinatzer remains the reference point for the Azzurri in the technical disciplines: more at ease in giant slalom so far this winter, but always capable of producing something special in slalom when least expected. 

Thirty years have passed since Alberto Tomba’s last triumph on these slopes, and twenty since Giorgio Rocca delivered Italy’s most recent 3Tre victory. Then, as now, the wider backdrop was an Olympic Games on home snow – Torino 2006 then, Milano–Cortina 2026 now. It may be read as a good omen for Vinatzer and his teammates, but also as a reminder of just how rarely champions of that calibre emerge.

From Tuesday evening, highlighted by the public bib draw at 6.30 pm in Piazza Sissi, Madonna di Campiglio will also welcome a number of figures who have shaped the history of the 3Tre. Alongside Tomba and Rocca will be Swiss legend Marc Girardelli, Italy’s most recent Olympic slalom champion Giuliano Razzoli, former Maglia Fulmine winners Ivano Edalini and Ole Kristian Furuseth, as well as Paolo De Chiesa and Kristian Ghedina.

It is an embrace that warms the night and recalls what the 3Tre has represented across more than 75 years of history. Then, as always in Madonna di Campiglio, attention will return to the Canalone Miramonti, where history stops being memory and becomes the present once again.

When the starting gate opens, the names of the past will remain behind, held by the crowd and by memory alone. Ahead lie only the protagonists of today, measured against a slope that recognises no titles and is capable of reshaping a career. This is where the 3Tre continues to choose its champions: on a night in which nothing is ever truly written in advance.