SBX season getting underway in Cervinia
Dec 19, 2018·Snowboard Cross
Cervinia (ITA) - After a delayed start to the season due to a lack of early December snow in Europe, the 2018/19 FIS Snowboard cross World Cup season is finally ready to get underway with a pair of competitions slated to hit an impressive course nestled under the Matterhorn in picturesque Cervinia (ITA).
Qualifications in Cervinia are slated to begin on Thursday, December 20, with the men beginning at 11:00 and the ladies’ at 14:30. Finals are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, December 21 and 22, with an 11:30 start time on Friday and an 11:40 start on Saturday.
Last year was Cervinia’s first as a host of SBX World Cup competition, and the resort did not disappoint, with the big, sweeping track facilitating some thrilling competition from the first heat of the day to the last. And, when Italian duo Michela Moioli and Omar Visintin swept the top of the podium, Cervinia’s debut was an undeniably memorable on.
This season, Cervinia takes on an even larger role in the grand scheme of the FIS Snowboard cross World Cup, as the resort has stepped up to add an additional competition to the programme after the originally scheduled season-opener in Montafon was cancelled early this month.
Though Montafon was cancelled, at the end of November we did see a pair of Europa Cup competitions in Pitztal (AUT) that featured some of the World Cup’s top riders, and from that we can get a sense of who could be coming into Cervinia with an edge on the field.
For the ladies, one of the most intriguing storylines of the season might be that of Charlotte Bankes, who switched from the French team to Great Britain in the off-season and then proceeded to win the first competition at Pitztal in her first performance riding under the GBR flag. With three of her five career World Cup podiums all coming last season and a fourth-place result earned last year in Cervinia, 23-year-old Bankes seems poised for a breakout this season.
Also riding high after Pitztal should be Eva Samkova, as the Sochi 2014 Olympic champion finished fourth in the first competition in Austria and was the winner of the second. As well, watch out for young Lara Casanova (SUI), who’s only entering her second full season on tour but was runner-up in both Pitztal competitions.
And, of course, count on the above-mentioned Moioli to be lined up alongside the best come time for the big finals, as the reigning Olympic champion and 2017/18 snowboard cross World Cup crystal globe winner looks for a repeat - or a three-peat - of her performance from Cervinia last season.
If we’re looking to Pitztal for a clue about the opener in Cervinia on the men’s side, then Spain’s Lucas Eguibar should be one on everyone’s radar. Eguibar earned a win and a runner-up result in Pitztal, and looks primed to improve on a 2017/18 season that saw him earn only two third-place podiums in individual SBX competition.
However, the men’s field in Pitztal was perhaps less robust than the ladies’, with all five of the top athletes from last year’s World Cup final standings sitting out the proceedings. Which of course means that three-time reigning crystal globe-winner Pierre Vaultier (FRA) wasn’t on hand in Austria.
To make any podium prediction without factoring Vaultier into the mix would be folly, and his performance last season in Cervinia, where he finished in second only after Visintin passed him with a last ditch effort at the line, suggests the challenging course here in Italy should be an ideal venue for him to start his season on a high note.
While Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT) has had his training hampered by injury and may be slow to get up to form in the early season, the likes of Alex Pullin (AUS), Paul Berg (GER), and last year’s Cervinia winner Omar Visintin should also be in the mix come Friday and Saturday’s finals.
WATCH LIVE - DEC 21:
ORF Sport+, BNT HD, CT Sport China, Eurosport 2, Eurosport 1 Asia/Pacific, YLE TV2, L'Equipe, RAI Sport, Ziggo Sport 14, Ziggo Select, Polsat Sport Extra, and NBC Olympic Channel
WATCH LIVE - DEC 22:
BNT HD, CT Sport, Eurosport Player, Das Erste, RAI Sport, Ziggo Sport 14, Ziggo Select
QUICK LINKS:
Cervinia data page (programme, start lists, live timing, results)
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