Swedes dominating on home soil in Idre Fjäll (SWE)
Jan 21, 2023·Ski Cross
The scenery couldn`t be more magical to start into the first FIS Ski Cross World Cup of the new year 2023 than in Idre Fjäll (SWE). On the first of two races here in Idre Fjäll we saw some outstanding skiing from Sandra Naeslund (SWE) and the two Mobaerg brothers David and Erik (SWE) who were standing on the podium for the first time together.
Home soil win for Naeslund
Next to the Qualification winner Sandra Naeslund (SWE) in red, we had Daniela Maier (GER) in green, Fanny Smith (SUI) in blue and Kathrin Ofner (AUT) in yellow in the gate for the big final women on Saturday’s FIS Ski Cross World Cup.
Out of the gate it was no one else, then Sandra Naeslund going into the lead immediately, followed by Maier and Smith and Ofner who had some struggle with the first elements in fourth. After a small mistake from Maier, Smith managed to pass her before the first jump and so leaded the persecutors into the first bank.
But the second place of Smith was not of a long duration as Maier skied the negative much better and so overtook Smith shortly after, trying to keep up with Naeslund, which was, to be honest not possible today. Naeslund who was again racing in her own league was already over a second in front of the other racers at intermediate 1 and already 1,5 seconds at the second intermediate.
Ofner who lost her ski after she made a mistake in the roller section right after turn 3 was out of the race even before the finish strait. Now it has been only Maier and Smith fighting for second and third place behind Naeslund.
In the beginning of the finish strait Maier was 0,3 seconds in front of Smith and so it looked like she will manage to get second again. But as we have seen in many heats before, the race is only over when they cross the finish line. And so it came. Smith who was skiing the dragon back, that’s how we call se element which looks like the back of a dragon existing out of 6 rollers, much better than Maier and so had enough speed to overtake her at the last jump before the finish line.
Naeslund took home her 14th win in a row on home soil in front of her family and friends, Smith got second, Maier third and Ofner got ranked fourth in the end.
Mobaerg brothers together on the podium
In Saturday’s big final men, we saw 23-year-old Swede David Mobaerg (SWE) in red, Niklas Bachsleitner (GER) in green, world cup leader Reece Howden (CAN) in blue and the second Mobaerg brother Eric (SWE) in yellow.
Out of the gate it was Canadian’s cowboy Howden with the fastest rection time, followed by David Mobaerg and Erik Mobaerg and German Bachsleitner in fourth position.
Bachsleitner who showed some really good racing in the previous heads which he all won, skied the start section pretty good and managed to overtake Erik Mobaerg. But also this order wasn’t from long duration. Right after the first turn, Erik Mobaerg passed Bachsleitner and now tried to close the occurred gap to his younger brother and Howden, which he did.
The two Mobaerg brothers skied into bank three skies by skies trying not to kick each other out of the race. The older brother Erik with the worse line got out of the turn slower than his brother and so had to enqueue behind Howden and David Mobaerg.
The Canadian, who already won one race this season was skiing into the finish strait with a small gap in front of his three persecutors. But as we have seen before, the race is only done when they crossed the finish line.
And so it came, also for the men. Howden came short on the dragon back which resulted in loosing speed and opening the door for his persecutors with more speed to pass him. The two Mobaerg brothers had the speed and so David Mobaerg managed to pass Howden at the last jump winning his fifth race, Erik Mobaerg came so close that the photo finish had to decide who got second and third. In the end, Howden had the longer finger and got second, Erik Mobaerg got third and Bachsleitner got fourth.
The two Mobaerg brothers were more than happy to stand on the podium together for the first time.
New World Cup leaders: Sandra Naeslund (SWE) and Reece Howden (CAN)
Let’s see if the Swedish team will be as successful in the race on Sunday as in the first WC here in Idre Fjäll and if Sandra Naeslund can manage to win her 15th race in a row and so ties the title of most wins in a row ever with Ingemar Stenmark.
Sunday, 22.01.2023 at 11:30 CET:
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