Ferrazzi Wins K1 Overall World Cup Title

Xabier Ferrazzi claimed the men’s K1 overall title at the 2026 ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup, sealing the crown with a silver medal at the season finale in La Seu d’Urgell, Spain.

A podium that decided the crystal globe

The overall title came down to the very last run on the challenging course. Frenchman Titouan Castryck delivered a clean run in 81.80 to take the day’s win, but the real contest unfolded in his wake.

Ferrazzi, representing CS Carabinieri, navigated the gates in 82.79 to grab second place, just 0.99 seconds behind Castryck. His compatriot and teammate Giovanni De Gennaro claimed third in 84.16, setting the scene for the final standings calculation.

Two Italians on top of the world

When the points were tallied, Ferrazzi stood clear at the summit with 302 points. De Gennaro settled into the runner-up spot on 282, completing an historic Italian one-two in the overall K1 rankings.

It was a result never before achieved by the nation. It also marked only the fourth time an Italian lifted this trophy, after Pierpaolo Ferrazzi, Xabier’s father, won it in 1990 and 1992, and Daniele Molmenti claimed it in 2010.

A steady rise under a familiar name

Ferrazzi arrived at the finale as the consistent force of the season. He opened with victory in Tacen, then banked back-to-back third places in Prague and Augsburg before the decisive silver in Spain.

He had already signalled his trajectory by becoming Junior K1 World Champion in 2023 and finishing seventh in the 2024 World Cup standings. Now he owns the crystal globe his father chased three decades earlier.

The family name carries weight — Pierpaolo won Olympic gold at Barcelona 1992 — but Xabier’s first overall World Cup title etches a chapter entirely his own.