Thompson boosts Crystal Globe hopes with Veysonnaz victory for ‘someone special’

Four-time FIS Ski Cross World Cup champion Marielle Thompson (CAN) boosted her hopes of a fifth Crystal Globe with victory on Saturday in the first of two races in Veysonnaz, Switzerland this weekend.

With packed snow, clear skies and minimal wind in the Swiss Alps, the 32-year-old gave near-perfect conditions a performance to match.

Having qualified fastest on Thursday, the Canadian, the 2014 Olympic champion, said a fast start would be key on a Veysonnaz course that is not the steepest on the circuit but has plenty of opportunities for overtaking.

And she was true to this advice, dominating her quarter-final and semi-final from beginning to end to take her place in the Big Final alongside compatriot India Sherret and Germany’s Daniela Maier, the two skiers ahead of her in the overall standings.

It was Maier who was quickest out of the starting gate in the Big Final, though, putting daylight between herself and a Canadian trio completed by Courtney Hoffos. It also put a target on the German’s back, though, and Thompson moved past her on the middle roller section – which proved to be a popular place for overtaking.

From this point, there was only one winner, Thompson punching the air as she crossed the line ahead of Maier. Sherret, who struggled for position throughout the race, held on for third, to complete a podium that was a reverse of the Overall Standings.

“I don’t know if they are tears of joy honestly, but I’m really happy with my performance today, hopefully I can keep it going into tomorrow, “ Thompson, the reigning World Cup champion, said. It’s really exciting.

“I just saw my chance to make a pass. Dani[ela] was a little bit short on that one jump and I knew if my jump was good, I might have some speed, and I took my opportunity.

On wanting to dedicate the win to somebody special, Thompson paused, appeared to get emotional and smiled: “They know.”

Maier, the Olympic bronze medallist, said: “It was kind of a dream day. Honestly, I’m a little bit disappointed that I got passed but it was so much fun and I had a really good feeling.

“I have to say a really big thank you to my team. I had fast skis, and they helped me a lot. It was nearly a perfect day.

On getting passed by Thompson, Maier said: “Come on, Dani, you have to fight, maybe on the finish line you can handle it again and the get the speed, but it didn’t happen. “Marielle was incredible in the roller section. Second place is also very good. I’m really proud and happy with it.”

Sherret, meanwhile, was “really excited” about her 10^th World Cup podium. “Today went pretty well,” she said. “My starts were good, my skiing strong. I made a couple of mistakes in the final. I was really hoping I could capitalise on a mistake from Marielle or Dani but didn’t quite get myself in the right place. But still, I hung in there for third place.”

Sherret’s lead in the World Cup standings is cut to 41 points over Maier, with Thompson now only a further 23 points back.

Deromedis ‘super satisfied’ with first Veysonnaz victory

As the season reaches its halfway point, the race for the men’s Crystal Globe has become considerably more interesting after Simone Deromedis (ITA) claimed his eighth stage victory and took advantage of overall leader Florian Wilmsmann’s (GER) failure to make it to the Big Final.

The German qualified fastest and looked untroubled until a stacked first semi-final, when he never recovered from an uncharacteristically slow start.

Coming out of the starting gate in the Big Final, there was nothing to separate Deromedis, Reece Howden (CAN) and Youri Duplessis Kergomard (FRA), who made it through to the showpiece despite losing both poles in the round of 32.

But as Ryo Sugai (JPN) – appearing in his first Big Final of the season – tried to make up ground, there was a coming together that left the Italian with a free run to the finish line.

“The first turn was really tight,” Deromedis said. “There were three guys packed together and I was not sure whether to send it [try to go in front] or keep back but as I got to the turn. I said ‘if there is a gap, you’ve gotta go into it, no?’

“It’s super nice, because I always did good on this track but I could never win. I did my second ever podium and three Big Finals here so the win was always there but not in my hands, so I’m super satisfied about that. The skis were insanely fast. I was behind in the start but then I made speed back so super happy.

“I don’t know what I will take into tomorrow’s race. I think I was doing some really good starts, so I hope I bring some luck and some legs too because now I’m done! It’s going to be interesting. As we say in Italy, I’ll have to ‘tighten my teeth’.

“Let’s hope it keeps on going like this because I’m in good shape and positive about the next races.”

Duplessis Kergomard, a winner in Veysonnaz last season, was happy with second place this time after a getting his pole tangled with Howden in the Big Final.

“I’m here for the win for sure, but today was a really good day,” the 28-year-old said.

“Here, it’s tricky, it’s tight. Each time we try to overtake we need to be careful.

“The plan tomorrow is another podium. This is my objective. A lot of rest today as we have six runs tomorrow [including qualifying].”

Howden admitted he was “a little bit mad” after finishing third the Big Final, his 25^th World Cup podium. “The adrenaline gets flowing pretty heavy,” the two-time Crystal Globe winner said. “But I’m pretty happy with the race today. Felt strong when I was following, strong when I was leading, a few mistakes here and there but it’s really more than I could ask for.

“The other day I got diagnosed with pneumonia in my left lung so I’ve been dealing with a shitty cough for a while. So I’m pretty happy to be able to pull this off but definitely looking for a little bit more. It was a fun battle and I hope it was fun to watch.

“At the start, Simone [Deromedis] was trying to push me around a little bit but I wasn’t having it. Then at the second turn he tried to pitch me out and I wasn’t going to back down. He got the better end of that and the guys behind caught up with me. Then at the bottom there I got hooked up in Youri’s pole, which happens. It was a little bit of obstruction in my opinion but I could have given myself a little bit more room to avoid that.

“Even though I had a bit of contact, I didn’t lose it and stayed strong down to the bottom. Happy to be on the box today [podium] today – tomorrow should be great.”

Wilmsmann, who had to make do with second place in the Small Final behind David Mobaerg (SWE), sees his lead in the overall standings cut to just 10 points from Deromedis with Duplessis Kergomard a further 100 points back in third.

Day two of racing in Veysonnaz, including qualifying, takes place on Sunday 2 February, starting at 10:35am CET.