On Tuesday, the action kicked off at the base of the Sassolungo/Langkofel mountain with the first training session for the upcoming downhill races in Val Gardena/Gröden on the renowned Saslong course. Jared Goldberg, hailing from the United States and displaying a close connection with Saslong, navigated the course expertly, securing the top spot in the initial training run with a swift time of 2:02.19 minutes.

This marked Goldberg's third top spot in a Val Gardena/Gröden training run, having previously triumphed in 2017 and 2020. However, in the actual race, he is still in pursuit of a top-tier finish, with his best Val Gardena/Gröden race result being sixth place in 2020. 

Following Goldberg's lead, a cadre of formidable contenders positioned themselves for the upcoming downhill races. Renowned favorite and defending champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde claimed second place with an exceptional second section performance (+0.25 seconds), while Switzerland's Stefan Rogentin secured the third spot (+0.37). German outsider Simon Jocher secured fourth place, and Austrian Daniel Hemetsberger finished fifth.

Among the fastest 15 were notable names such as Odermatt, Paris, and the defending champion Kriechmayr.

The top ten featured additional prominent performers, including overall World Cup winner Marco Odermatt (7th place) and local hero Dominik Paris from Ulten (9th place). Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr, a previous winner of a Val Gardena/Gröden downhill race, secured 14th place, just behind "Azzurro" Mattia Casse, who landed on the podium for the first time in 2022.

Joining Paris and Casse, three other Italians showcased their prowess in the first training run's top 30: Florian Schieder from Kastelruth claimed 16th place, Guglielmo Bosca secured 19th place, and veteran Christof Innerhofer from Gais finished 30rd.

A second downhill training run is scheduled for Wednesday on the Saslong, with the action commencing at 11:45 am.

The complete list of results of the first downhill training can be found here.