2025 Freeride World Tour Val Thorens Stop Two Full Recap

Featured Image: Jeremy Bernard, Courtesy of the Freeride World Tour | Skier: Marcus Goguen

It’s not every day that we get a Freeride World Tour stop caked in feet of fresh snow, but that was the scene today in Val Thorens, France as the riders took to the start gate. The area has reported 35″ of snow over the last five days, giving the Lac Noir face a complete makeover and making these massive features picturesque with quality takeoffs and bottomless landings. The tour has been away from France for nine seasons, but this massive storm, combined with high energy coming out of Stop One, made for a glorious return. The locals gathered in masses to watch the competition and loudly cheer for the four French skiers on course. Just have a listen to the thunderous rumble of voices as Chamonix-based rider Virgile Didier dropped in to close out the Ski Men’s field. There were highs and there were lows, with seven skiers unable to finish after getting hung up in the deep end. But overall, Val Thorens provided an absolutely electric second stop of the 2025 Freeride World Tour.

In the Ski Women’s Field, we got a stellar show, with all riders able to finish the course in its entirety and over half the field scoring above 70. It’s a testament to the high caliber of riding we’re seeing year after year. But the battle today was truly between Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe and France’s Astrid Cheylus. These two were neck and neck after Stop One, with Dufour-Lapointe sneaking out the win. It was the same story in Val Thorens; only the results were flipped as Cheylus was able to capitalize in front of the home crowd.

Both lines included massive airs, creative line selection and large backflips. In the end, the judges awarded Cheylus a score of 93.67, three points higher than Dufour-Lapointe, giving her a higher score in the Technique category. Lena Kohler rounded out the podium taking third place. A mechanical engineer and a professional skier, Kohler is only in her second year on the Tour and already making big waves. The German rider pinned it off a large air at the top of the course to start her run and kept her foot on the gas the entire way down. Shoutout to FWT veterans and world champs Elisabeth Gerritzen and Ari Tricomi for laying down pristine lines as well, each missing the podium by just a few points. We’re sure to see more out of them as the Tour heads across the pond to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, British Columbia for Stop Three.

“Winning at home, in France, with my family and friends here, means everything. My line was exactly as I envisioned, and this morning, I was so excited to ski it, especially with these incredible snow conditions.” – Astrid Cheylus, 2025 Val Thorens FWT Pro Ski Women Winner

In the Ski Men’s Field, the podium was filled with fresh faces from the previous stop in Spain. After claiming the top spots the other week, Ross Tester, Toby Rafford and Ben Richards landed in 12th, 13th and 8th place, respectively. All three riders put down hearty runs, but the competition was fierce. Canadian Marcus Goguen made his return to the podium today with a wild backflip right off the initial cornice, followed by a massive three and a run that was so quick you’d miss it if you blinked. The young gun is in a good position to capitalize as the Tour heads back to his home country for Stop Three.

Second place went to Valentin Rainer, the Austrian rider with four seasons on the tour under his belt. He kicked off his run by taking an unorthodox entrance into untouched snow, pinning it over a spine and stomping a big three in the flat. Rainer trudged his way over to another fresh section of the face, descending into the steeps with sluff chasing after him. He teed up another big left three, this time going even farther and rotating just slow enough to bring it around for a perfect landing. It was flawless execution, especially considering none of these riders had ever skied this face before or hit these features.

The overall champ at Stop Two was Martin Bender. The 20 year old Swiss rider was the eighth skier to drop in the 21 person field, but nobody could top his score of 91.67. Bender was able to secure the lead thanks to his immaculate line selection and his three 360s, spinning both left and right. It was a beautiful showing of freeriding in premier conditions that has us fired up as the 2025 FWT nears its haflway point.

“Winning my first FWT competition feels unreal—perfect powder, an amazing face, and great friends made it unforgettable. This win was a huge surprise, and it’ll take time to sink in.” – Martin Bender, 2025 Val Thorens Pro Ski Men Winner

Below, you’ll find the podium results, winning runs and a full photo gallery of the event.

Click here to watch the full replay of Stop Two on the official FWT website.