“Finally!” World Cup wins worth the wait for Phelan (CAN) and Duplessis Kergomard (FRA)

Brittany Phelan (CAN) won the first FIS World Cup Ski Cross race of her career in Reiteralm, Austria on Sunday, while a maiden victory for Youri Duplessis Kergomard (FRA) blew the race for the men's Crystal Globe wide open.

Heavy snow on Friday made the course too slow for the women to race on Saturday, but this time both fields were able to put it down thanks to cold temperatures overnight. “It was not fun to watch the men yesterday,” Marielle Berger Sabbatel (FRA) admitted. “But today the snow is harder so we will have more speed.”

And it was the French woman, fastest in Thursday qualifying, who had the most to gain after World Cup leader Marielle Thompson failed to make it past the first corner in her quarter-final.

After Phelan and Berger Sabbatel dominated their semi-finals, the Big Final was expected to come down to a shootout between the two. And so it proved, with Swiss pair Talina Gantenbein and Margaux Dumont – who were eventually awarded joint third – failing to finish the race after coming together at the first corner.

By this point, Phelan had already built up a healthy lead, having burst out of the starting gate, and she never let it slip. Berger Sabbatel did try to make a pass on the final corner, despite losing ground when she hit the knuckle of the landing area on the last jump, but she just couldn’t get close enough.

“To have a good fight with Marielle and hold her off to get the first win of my career after 16 years of World Cup racing is amazing,” Phelan, 32, said. “It’s been a long time coming and to finally get that monkey off my back and cross the line with nobody in front of me feels unreal.

“I’ve always loved this track and I felt good from the first training run. It was a bit slower than we would have liked but they did an amazing job to get the race on. I just let it happen.

If Phelan was the nearly woman of FIS World Cup Ski Cross with her first win coming after 16 previous podiums, Berger Sabbatel is the nearly woman of this season. In an extraordinary show of consistency, she has now featured in all but one Big Final in 2023/24, claiming nine podiums but no victory.

“Yes, it’s a good season for me,” the 34-year-old said. “I’m happy to grab second place today. Brittany did a really good race. I made some mistakes, but at least we could race and we had a good fight in the final. I’m happy to be back on the podium and I want to make more big podiums in a row for sure.”

Now just 22 points behind Thompson in the standings, Berger Sabbatel could even achieve the seemingly impossible and lift the Crystal Globe without winning a single race this season if she continues to threaten the podium so frequently.

Phelan is a further 116 points back and will likely need further victories to be in with a chance.

Men’s Crystal Globe wide open as Howden and Fiva falter

A first career victory also puts Duplessis Kergomard in the race for the Crystal Globe, with just 86 points separating the top seven skiers in the men’s standings.

“Finally!” the Frenchman said, after three third places this season and five other podiums previously.

“After leading both qualifying [on Thursday], I told myself this morning I had to win all the starts – that’s what I did before the final.”

Indeed, the 27-year-old was slowest out of the gates in a Big Final that featured none of Saturday’s medallists, while World Cup leader Reece Howden (CAN) could only make it to the quarter-finals.

His closest rival, Alex Fiva (SUI), did line up for the Big Final but failed to fully capitalise. Duplessis Kergomard’s sluggish start meant he stayed clear of a coming together between Simone Deromedis (ITA) and Terence Tchiknavorian (FRA) at the first corner. Fiva moved into second, only to miss a gate after running wide coming out of a big step-down.

Duplessis Kergomard took a much tighter line into the same jump, enabling him to take the lead off Tchiknavorian. Deromedis then found speed on the bottom section – as he had in the semi-final – to push Tchiknavorian down into third, where his brother Melvin finished on Saturday.

“I don’t yet realise how emotional I am, I have been waiting a long time for this,” Duplessis Kergomard said after beating his chest and roaring with delight as he crossed the finish line.

The season continues in Veysonnaz, Switzerland with qualifying on 15 March.

For the full results from Reiteralm, click here.