Kosir stuns in Val Saint Come while Hofmeister shines once again
Feb 16, 2025·Snowboard Alpine)
The VISA FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup jumped across the pond for the first event of the 2024-25 season on North American snow. Val Saint Come was the host for an exciting day of PGS racing. The town was blanketed in 35cm of snow earlier this week, creating a picturesque setting and tricky conditions for the riders.
The old guys take the glory
Zan Kosir (SLO) came from nowhere to dominate the day on the men’s side. He posted the fastest time in qualifying and ran through the field on his way to the big final where he matched up against fellow veteran Benjamin Karl (AUT).
The 40-year-old Kosir pulled off a stunning run and finished with a shrug in celebration as he topped the podium for the first time this season. It is his first individual World Cup podium and win since Rogla 2021. It is his 21st career individual World Cup podium.
The course in Canada featured a setup with a lot of variation and the recent snowfall created tough conditions on the day. Kosir paid no mind.
Behind Kosir, the 39-year-old Karl put together a great day to take second place. He showed he still has some stuff left in the tank with a close win against one of the favorites in Andreas Prommegger (AUT) in the first round. Karl then cruised through the quarterfinals and continued his magical day with a win in the semifinals against Daniele Bagozza (ITA). His podium finish gives him 55 career World Cup podiums.
Bagozza would lose the small final to Radoslav Yankov (BUL). Yankov makes his third podium of the season. He also holds on to second place in the PGS standings just 66 points behind PGS leader Maurizio Bormolini (ITA).
Bormolini began the finals with a close call in the first round but did enough to advance. He went for it all in the quarterfinals but could not keep up with his Italian teammate Bagozza who moved on to the semis.
Tim Mastnak (SLO), Gabriel Messner (ITA), Dario Caviezel (SUI), Sangho Lee (KOR) and Aaron March (ITA) all just missed the qualification line to advance to the final rounds.
Arvid Auner (AUT) was knocked out by Arnaud Gaudet (CAN), much to the delight of the home fans, in the first round despite a strong showing in qualifying. Ben Heldman (CAN) fired up the local fans with an exciting win in the first round against the higher seed Mirko Felicetti (ITA).
Hofmeister reigns again
Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) returned to form off the short break to show off her dominant ways once again. The German cruised through the field on her way to her fourth win of the season and 27th of her career.
Hofmeister had a tough task in the final against the red hot Sabine Payer (AUT) who also had a return to form and successful outing on Saturday.
Hofmeister may be the one to beat in Sunday's race as well. She moved up to third in the PGS standings with the win.
On the day, Hofmeister cruised in the quarterfinals against Aleksandra Krol-Walas (POL) and dominated in the semifinals against her teammate Cheyenne Loch (GER).
The other headliner of the day came early. Overall and PGS leader Tsubaki Miki (JPN) has been the dominant force all season. She posted a strong qualifying time but was unfortunately drawn against Payer in the first round after the Austrian fell to 14th in qualifying.
The Austrian showed why she is still in the elite class of the sport putting down a flawless run to edge Miki by 0.15 seconds to advance to the quarterfinals and send the favorite out in the first round. Miki ended the day in ninth.
Payer continued her run with a win against Jasmin Coratti (ITA) in the quarters. In one of the best races of the day Payer pulled off a great comeback with a momentous finish to defeat Michelle Dekker (NED) and advance to the big final. It is the fifth podium of the season for Payer.
Dekker would dominate the small final to finish in third. The young Dutch snowboarder has podiumed three times this season. Her training partner and good friend Cody Winters (USA) also finished third in snowboard cross in Cortina on Saturday.
The snowboard Alpine riders will return to the same slope on Sunday for another PGS race at Val Saint Come. Qualifying will begin at 10:00 local time and finals will start at 14:00 local time. There is expected snowfall on Sunday, changing conditions for Sunday's race.
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