Naeslund wins on home soil and Regez back on top
Jan 22, 2022·Ski Cross
What a day for the Swedish crowd, who came out to watch their home hero Sandra Naeslund take another win this season. On home soil we might add. And to absolutely make it a perfect Swedish day, she was joined on the podium by teammate Alexandra Edebo, the “Swedish Viking Princess”, as she is called.
The competition started off in snowy conditions with some darker light caused by the clouds, but of course, if there’s something certain in Sweden, then it’s the fact that weather changes rapidly. And just as predicted in the forecast, it stopped snowing in the middle of the competition.
Sandra Naeslund dominates race on home soil
For the big final of the day, with the Canadians not participating in the final World Cup stop before the Olympic Winter Games, we saw the Swedish duo Sandra Naeslund and Alexandra Edebo, as well as France’s Jade Grillet-Aubert and for the first time ever in only ten World Cup starts, Italy’s Jole Galli in the start gate.
Naeslund pitchforked out of the startgate, like in every previous heat, securing the first position on her home soil race. Like a rocket, she managed to get a 1.17 second margin ahead of her teammate until the first intermediate time. In the back of the heat, Grillet-Aubert and Galli were fighting for the third spot, but since the Italian came a little short after one of the jumps, it was Grillet-Aubert getting in third.
Naeslund was absolutely on fire, enlarging her margin and being in a clear lead from top to bottom of the heat, crossing the finish line with 2.08 seconds ahead of Edebo and Grillet-Aubert, who attempted to pass Edebo on the finish roller section, but in the end did not succeed.
“It feels so great! It is a really tough course and it’s really heavy on the legs, but I am happy, With the final round it was also a little bit rocky for me, but I kept the lead, so I am really lucky,” a very happy Sandra Naeslund commented after the race.
Ryan Regez back on top of the podium
For the men’s big final, it was Ryan Regez (SUI), Terence Tchiknavorian from France with his teammate Morgan Guipponi Barfety, who had made it to the big final for the second time in his career, and Austria’s Adam Kappacher.
The final heat of the day went off with Regez and Tchiknavorian managing the start section in the best way, so that they were in the lead together until the next jump, where Regez managed to take the lead and comfortably stay here until the very finish.
Kappacher was in third, trying to find a door that Tchiknavorian might have left open for him, but the Frenchman defended his position very well. Nevertheless, the Austrian got into the French athlete’s draft, trying to generate more speed for a potential pass into second position, but in the following turns, the gap between the two got bigger again.
It was at the very finish section, where Kappacher had been super strong in the previous heats and where he tried his last attack on Tchiknavorian, but he did not manage to pass him anymore. Morgan Guipponi Barfety stayed in fourth position from top to bottom, not really being able to join the podium fight.
That way, Regez took his second season victory, Terence Tchiknavorian took second place and regained the leader bib and Adam Kappacher took his maiden World Cup podium.
“In training my start didn’t work and all of a sudden in the heats it kept getting better and better and the element where we single and double, I went way too high in the final again, but then I was able to work like crazy over the first few rollers and then I was able to generate speed and I knew that if I keep it clear from there on, I am untouchable and I am really happy that I made it,” Ryan Regez said in the finish.
Taking a look at the World Cup standings, of course, with season victory number eight, Sandra Naeslund keeps the leader bib and has now 850 points to her name, leaving runner-up Fanny Smith, who did not compete in Idre Fjäll due to an injury she suffered from in Nakiska, with 566 points behind and in third rank, it’s Marielle Thompson, who also did not compete on Saturday with 389 points.
On the men’s side, the rankings are a bit tighter. First of all, Terence Tchiknavorian took over the lead from his team mate Bastien Midol with today’s performance. Tchiknavorian has now a total of 453 points. That is just 34 points more than Midol has now, which is 419 points. And Ryan Regez is also coming closer to the French gentlemen and has now a total of 377 points.
Well, there is another chance to gain points and podium spots tomorrow, as we will enter the very last World Cup competition before the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Finals are on at 13:00 CET on Sunday. Make sure to witness the action!
WATCH LIVE (subject to change)
Sunday, Jan 23 at 13:00 CET:
V Sport 1 (Finland), Ziggo Docu (The Netherlands), V Sport + (Norway), Joj Sport (Slovakia), TV 6 (Sweden)
Livestreaming: FIS Frestyle Youtube channel (geo-restrictred, please check countries where you can watch live HERE), Eurosport Player (Europe), CBC Sports Streaming (Canada), Viaplay (Denmark), Arena 4 (Hungary), SRF Play, RTS Sport (Switzerland), skiandsnowboard.live (USA), NBC Peacock (USA), sportschau.de (Germany)
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