Zavarzina and Dufour top second Bansko parallel giant slalom
Aug 31, 2018·Alpine Snowboard
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Bansko's successful debut as a snowboard World Cup host wrapped up today with wins for Alena Zavarzina (RUS) and Sylvain Dufour (FRA) who stood out in the second parallel giant slalom staged on the Alberto Tomba slope of the Bulgarian resort nestling right at the foot of the Pirin Mountains.
Facing challenging conditions, Dufour brought home his first win since 2014 holding the upper hand on Radoslav Yankov (BUL) thanks to a superb carving technique. Through the first gates of the 500 metres long course, he set the local favourite under pressure and forced him to a decisive mistake.
Barracked by an once again stellar crowd of more than 5,000 spectators the 27-year-old World Cup leader from Chepelare thad ried to keep the momentum from his victory in Friday's historical race going for another win on home soil but caught the wrong edge in a backside turn almost taking out Dufour, too.
But the French racer saw disaster coming, avoided the crash and brought home his career's fourth.
“I loved it today. Winning here is an amazing feeling. You had to fight a lot today, I'm so happy,” Dufour said while his rival Yankov added: “At first, I was disappointed because of my crash but now I'm really happy about my second rank finish.”
Stefan Baumeister (GER) earned his career's first podium finish on the World Cup tour coming out successful of the small final against four-time world champion Benjamin Karl (AUT).
Finally #3 in the bag: Superzina celebrates her win in Bansko
Superzina wins tight battle
In the women's competition, best qualifier Zavarzina claimed her career's third beating Friday's winner Patrizia Kummer (SUI) in the women's big final which was a tight battle from start to finish line therefore taking over the disciplines World Cup lead.
“It's been a fantastic venue. I love the people here. Everybody was so supportive. However, today had some pretty challenging conditions. It was really hard not to fall, really hard to keep the balance in the turns. It was exhausting but I managed to work 100%, and I'm happy about the win,” summed up the Russian raceboarder.
Japan's Tomoka Takeuchi rounded out the podium with Cheyenne Loch of Germany being forced to settle for fourth.
The alpine snowboard World Cup tour continues in Bokwang, Korea where the official Olympic test event (PGS) for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang will take place on February 12, 2017.
Results
Full results of this season's fourth pgs World Cup staged at Bansko can be viewed online.
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