Moioli and Hughes shine in snowy Montafon SBX

Michela Moioli (ITA) and Jarryd Hughes (AUS) brought home their respective first wins of the season on Saturday, triumphing in this season's fourth individual race of the SBX World Cup tour in Montafon, Austria.

With heavy snowfall having mixed up the event programme over the previous days already, the sky opened up again on Saturday, with the snow growing gradually stronger throughout the day. The riders seemed mostly unaffected, however, delivering a great and exciting show on a course which provided tons of passing opportunities in front of a traditional stellar crowd on Seebliga/Hochjoch.

Michela Moioli earned her career's sixth win by edging US athlete Faye Gulini to runner-up position in a photo finish.

Right before crossing the finish line, Moioli leaned back to bring her nose forward while Gulini opted for the ski cross-like way pushing her hand towards the finish line.

In the end, it was the Italian who had made the better decision, and she would be rewarded with the win at a venue where she never had placed better than sixth in her previous attempts.

“Today I was very fast, so a big thanks to my techs. I like when it’s snowing because I’m faster! I’m super happy because I’ve never had a good race here in Montafon. This is my first podium here, so I’m really, really happy,” she cheered.

Gulini on the other hand, finally clinched her career's first podium after 23 top-10 results on the SBX circuit before.

“I’ve been wanting this for like my whole career. I feel like I’ve been very close numerous times, I was fourth a few days ago and I’ve made a few finals, but it’s nice to finally seal the deal.

I think a lot of people think before you get your first podium it’s like a mental block or a thing that you’ve gotta get before you get multiple podiums, so maybe now I’m due for a few more,” she said.

Nelly Moenne Loccoz (FRA) rounded out the women's podium in third.

Hughes adds another one to Aussie streak

The men's event saw also a close battle from top to bottom although eventual winner and former X Games gold medallist Hughes, who had been forced to take the detour to the finals via qualifier run two, was able to break away a little bit from his rivals after the first turns. While the three other riders battled behind him he was able to defend his lead to the finish and bringing home his career's second victory.

“I’m on top of the world right now. I was really struggling yesterday in qualifications, but I was able to put it all together today. To come out here today and win is fantastic. And to have the Austrians in the final, with Pierre (Vaultier), that was amazing,” Hughes stated before adding:

“With the snow coming down it was a bit rough, but we’ve all got to compete in the same conditions. Everyone was on the same course and it was a good race.”

Thanks to Hughes' win Australian riders have been on the podium at every World Cup stop this season so far.

Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT), Markus Schairer (AUT) and Pierre Vaultier (FRA) fought hard and fair for the positions over the whole course with the two Austrians, who had secured a double win for their home country in Montafon back in 2015, finally stepping on the podium as second and third, respectively.

Though an Austrian was not on top of the podium this time around, the fans gathered were thrilled with the second-third result nonetheless, as Schairer secured his third place finish with a last-second move to pass Vaultier at the line in a stunningly close photo-finish.

A Montafon native, Schairer commented the intense head-to-head racing: “The big final was crazy. I was behind but I was running faster than the other three guys, and I thought ‘Well, where should I go now?’

Pierre was right, Alessandro was left, and Jarryd was right in front of me. It happened so fast, but then Pierre came up on the right and I though, ‘Come on, let’s go. Pierre is fair and he’s always riding a straight line, so use your chance.’ And then it was just this close.”

The SBX World Cup tour continues tomorrow with this season's first Team BoarderX event in Montafon. Finals are scheduled for 11:30 AM CET.

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