2020/21 Snowboard World Cup season begins with wins for Ledecka and Fischnaller
Dec 12, 2020·Snowboard Alpine
Almost nine months to the day after the 2019/20 season shut down early due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the FIS Snowboard World Cup returned to action with the first competition of 2020/21, where Ester Ledecka (CZE) and Roland Fischnaller (ITA) got the season underway in triumphant fashion with parallel giant slalom wins at one of the world’s great venues in Cortina d Ampezzo (ITA).
While stringent safety restrictions in place meant that there would be no crowd on hand to cheer on proceedings on Saturday in Italy, the excitement surrounding the return to competition could be felt in the air, and though it may have been hard to tell behind the masks worn by competitors, team staff, and the organizing team, there were a lot of smiles on and around the Cortina course throughout the day.
Ledecka back on top after 11 months away from FIS Snowboard competition
Making her return to FIS Snowboard competition for the first time in 11 months was the reigning Olympic snowboard PGS and alpine ski super-G champion Ledecka, the only snow sports athlete on earth who splits her time excelling on an international stage at two different disciplines. Despite her lengthy time away from snowboard competition, Ledecka showed absolutely no rust in Saturday’s event, dominating from beginning to end of the day.
Putting down the fastest qualification time by nearly two seconds, Ledecka then went on to dispatch first Austria’s Daniella Ulbing, and then reigning PSL world champion Julie Zogg (SUI), before meeting reigning PGS crystal globe winner Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) in the semi-finals.
While Hofmeister would give Ledecka the strongest challenge the Czech rider would face all day, Ledecka would put down another confident and hard-charging run to finish ahead of Hofmeister by .18s, setting up a big final showdown with Hofmeister’s teammate Selina Joerg.
While last season’s PGS second-overall ranked rider Joerg would make no mistakes in her big final run, she was simply not able to keep pace with the incredible Ledecka, who attacked every gate from top to bottom of the picturesque Cortina course to finish .88s ahead of Joerg and claim the 19th win of her World Cup career.
“It was a great race,” Ledecka smiled in her post race interview, “I have to say to the organisers - awesome job. They did a great job here. Both courses were very similar, so it was very nice to ride. Every run you saw the riders chasing each other, so it was very nice for racing, so thanks very much to everyone that made this happen. I’m happy to be here and it was a great race.”
In the small final, Hofmeister faced off against her teammate Cheyenne Loch in an all-Germany match-up and one of the most exciting heats of the day. While Hofmeister jumped out to a solid lead early in the heat, Loch battled hard through the middle of her run to make up time. However, in the end it wouldn’t be quite enough, as Hofmeister would end up sweeping across the line just .06s ahead of Loch for third place on the day. With Saturday’s result Hofmeister has now landed on the podium in 11 of 13 competitions dating back to the start of last season.
The King of Cortina does it again
To win once on home soil is a dream come true for most riders on the World Cup level, but to do it four times consecutively at one venue like Italy’s own Roland Fischnaller has now done at Cortina d Ampezzo is something truly special indeed.
The reigning PGS crystal globe winner, Fischnaller rides the Cortina course like no one else, seeming to come out of the gate almost casually while giving away time on the opening pitch, only to then gather more speed and more momentum with every turn and at every gate, always eventually passing his opponent and winning the heat with a flourish.
No where was this more apparent than in his semifinal match-up with Austrian ace Benjamin Karl.
After easing out of the gate, Fischnaller was more than half a second behind Karl at the first interval. However, showing no signs of panic, Fischnaller methodically attacked each gate through the middle section of the course, closing the gap to nearly even by the second interval, before powering through the homestretch and across the line nearly three-tenths of a second ahead of Karl.
In the big final Fischnaller would then meet his teammate Aaron March, and though March had scored a couple of come-from-behind wins in his heats on the way to the big final, he was simply outmatched by Fischnaller once there. Fischnaller would best March by .45s once the dust had settled, giving the remarkable 40 year-old his fourth straight victory at Cortina d Ampezzo, his seventh podium in seven events at the venue, and reasserting his claim to the throne as the King of Cortina.
“It’s a very special feeling,” Fischnaller said in his post-race interview, “Because now I have a lot of pressure (here in Cortina). Out of seven races now I’ve won four, and three times came second. If I would finish in third place here it would be like I lose. But of course I won today and I’m super happy. And I’m super happy for my team, because we put five in the top eight. Many teams are trying to copy us, many teams were training in Italy earlier this season, but yeah…maybe in other races they will be better than us but today, we had the top level.”
When you throw in the fact that Fischnaller took Saturday’s victory by winning heats on both the red and the blue courses, despite the fact that he was the top seed with the ability to choose his course in each heat, then you’ve got a truly remarkable performance by the veteran speedster.
The two-podium day for the Italians in Cortina capped a hugely impressive start to the season for the host squad, who, as Fischnaller mentioned, put five riders into the final eight of the quarterfinals. However, due to a strong finish by Karl in the small final, a podium sweep was not in the cards for Italy, with Karl finishing .15s ahead of Mirko Felicetti (ITA) to claim third place on the day.
Up next for the FIS Snowboard alpine World Cup will be a quick three hour drive west, as we remain in Italy’s Sud Tirol region for next week’s PGS competition in Carezza. Qualifications and finals in Carezza will go down on 17 Decemeber, with qualies beginning at 9:00 and finals at 13:00 CET.
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