2014 Olympic gold medallists Eva Samkova (CZE) and Pierre Vaultier (FRA) have clinched the second ever snowboard cross World Cup event on Russian soil which was staged in Sunny Valley today.
Both riders had already impressed with the respective best and second fastest qualifier time yesterday going into today's heat of six finals on the 1,100 metres long purpose-built course with a lot of confidence which turned out to be the key to success on a day which had it all!
With a perfect course, the best boarder cross athletes in the world on hand, and a bluebird day, all the pieces were in place for an excellent competition.
Samkova left no doubt that she would be the women to beat dominating all of her heats from start to finish and bringing home her fifth career World Cup win ahead of Belle Brockhoff (AUS) and Michela Moioli (ITA).
“Today was great although I'm still a little bit tired from this sickness of December. I didn't had much time to work on my stamina so far. But it was an awesome course and I loved it from the first run. I was very focused today as I really wanted to win. I'm really happy,” said Samkova.
Also Brockhoff, the runner up from down under, lauded the course builders in Russia: “That has definitely been the event of the year. Perfect weather, awesome course, big and long, falls nicely with everyone having a lot of fun. Just an awesome day riding.”
Earning 1,000 points for the win, the Czech racer also caught up in the battle for the World Cup titlesitting in second position now, just 160 behind of defending champion Nelly Moenne Loccoz (FRA, 2,720) who finished in twelfth position today.
Vaultier keeps the momentum from Feldberg and is ready for more
In the men's event, back-to-back winner Vaultier keeps on working hard on his status as a sbx legend relegating Christopher Robanske (CAN) and Lucas Eguibar (SPA) to the respective second and third rank.
“It was an interesting race with a lot of technical parts and features. It was not easy to stay in front from top to bottom. It was a tight final with a little mess in my back. I'm happy and I hope that I can keep the momentum till Korea,” Vaultier stated.
With now 17 World Cup victories under his belt, the father of one is making it harder for the rest to edge him of the throne for the rider with the most sbx World Cup wins.
In addition, the 28-year-old from Saint Chaffrey now also leads the race for the Crystal Globe with 2,980 after four out of eight races, 480 ahead of former leader Nikolay Olyunin (RUS) who had to settle for a disappointing 21st rank in front of a stellar home crowd.
The snowboard cross World Cup circuit will now head further east to stop over in Bokwang Phoenix Park, Korea where the official Olympic test events for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games will take place from February 25th till 27th, 2016.
Source: fis-ski.com
