Naeslund and Niederer with the victory in the first race in Watles

Watles, ITA - After several delays and setbacks due to windy, snowy, and foggy weather conditions, the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup finally got down to business for the first time in 2017 on Saturday, with Sandra Naeslund (SWE) claiming the first victory of her ski cross career in ladies’ competition and Armin Neiderer (SUI) winning his first World Cup in over four years in the first of back-to-back competitions this weekend in Watles (ITA).

Friday was supposed to be a big day in Watles with two separate round of qualifications scheduled - one for each of the weekend’s two races. However, with dynamic - and generally bad - weather conditions forecast throughout the day on Friday, qualification rounds were cancelled and officials elected to instead go with an extra round of heats for both the ladies’ and the men on Saturday in order to hold a fair competition.

While morning weather in Watles looked uncertain, by the time competition rolled around the skies had brightened and it was all systems go. However, the previous day’s snow and a lack of traffic on the course meant that speed and softness on the track would challenge competitors throughout the day.

Naeslund, however, would show no ill effects of this on her way to taking her first World Cup victory in what was an emotional and uplifting performance for a Swedish team still reeling after star skier Anna Holmlund suffered a serious injury in December.

In the big final Naeslund was out of the gate and into the first corner shoulder-to-shoulder with Georgia Simmerling (CAN) - the only skier who had bested her at any point in the day when the Canadian won the semi-final over the Swede. However, on exiting the corner, Naeslund found another gear and set about building a lead the would go unchallenged through the rest of the course.

"This is my first World Cup victory so I'm super happy.” Naeslund said following awards, “I had a good start coming in the lead right basically right out of the gate and I had a good run all the way until the finish line. I'm happy with my skiing today and of course happy to get this win.”

With Fanny Smith (SUI) dropping off the pace right from the start, Simmerling was left to battle with Heidi Zacher (GER) for runner up, with the two trading places through the Watles middle section before Simmerling was able to pull away and take second spot for her best result of the season.

Zacher, with her third place result, now has four straight podiums, though she still sits 136 points behind Marielle Thompson (CAN) for top spot on the ladies ski cross World Cup leaderboard.

In the men’s competition, Armin Neiderer was finally able to put it all together and carve out a victory after showing the speed and technique that seemed destined for the top of the podium throughout a December where he was several times the victim of bad luck.

The big final saw Neiderer lined up alongside World Cup leader Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA), second overall Brady Leman (CAN), and Bastien Midol (FRA).

Out of the gate it was Leman with the best start, though the Canadian’s speed quickly became a liability as he landed flat on the first jump and was passed by Chapuis and Neiderer, with Chapuis taking the lead through the courses middle section.

Typically, once Chapuis’ is out front there’s no looking back for the two-time reigning crystal globe winner, but on Saturday some small mistakes by the Frenchman combined with canny line choices by Neiderer and Leman saw Chapuis overtaken twice in quick succession, including a daring high-line pass by Leman on the negative corner that nearly gave the Canadian the speed to overtake Neiderer as well.

However, Neiderer would be able to hold on for his first podium of the season and his first win since late 2012.

“I had a great day today,” Neiderer said after the race, “In the final I wasn't so fast right at the start and had to fight with Brady all the time. I was behind Chapuis on the last section of the course but I had a little bit more speed so I tried to pass him. It paid off and I'm really happy with the win.”

The victory moved the Swiss skier up to sixth on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup men’s leaderboard, while Leman’s runner-up performance vaulted him into second overall with 327 points, 83 back of Chapuis’ 419.

With favourable weather conditions expected to continue through to tomorrow and another night for builders to work on the track, the second of the back-to-back Watles competitions promises to be bring even better racing to Italy on Sunday. Preliminary heats in Watles will get underway at 9:30 CET, with the finals set to begin at 11:00 CET.

LINKS:

Ladies’ big final highlight video

Men’s big finals highlight video

GEPA Pictures photos (for editorial use)

**LIVE SCORING (SUNDAY'S RACE):

**Live brackets will be available HERE.

LIVE TV BROADCAST (SUNDAY'S RACE):

EUROSPORT 2 (Livestream on EUROSPORT PLAYER)

EUROSPORT 1 ASIA

ORF Sport+ - Austria

SFR 3 - France

ZIGGO SPORT SELECT - Netherlands

NRK 2 - Norway

SVT 1 - Sweden

NBC - USA (Livestream available HERE)