SBX World Cup action comes to Big White Ski Resort
Jan 24, 2020·Snowboard Cross
We are back in World Cup mode after a Christmas break and some time off to recharge the batteries.
It will be the first time that the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup will take to the slopes of British Columbia’s Big White Ski Resort for the Barrels & Berms competition and it will be the first SBX World Cup on Canadian soil in over six years.
The originally anticipated program had planned to see the men and women fight for the podium in their respective individual competitions on Saturday and also have the new format of mixed team snowboard cross, a team event featuring one man and woman on a team in relay format, on Sunday.
However, since unfortunately the snowboard cross competitions planned for February 1-2 in Feldberg (GER), had to be cancelled due to lack of snow and warm temperatures, the Local Organizing Committee of the Barrels & Berms competition, together with Big White Ski Resort, Canada Snowboard and FIS have decided, to adapt the event program and to hold another individual competition on Sunday, instead of the mixed team event.
"Due to the great snow conditions at Big White Ski Resort, Canada and a willing Local Organizing Committee the event change has been made to this format to best support the athletes and the tour internationally. Big White Ski Resort is looking forward to being the only host on the Tour to run a double Individual SBX World Cup for the 2019 / 2020 Season,” the Local Organizing Committee of Big White Ski Resort states together with Canada Snowboard.
FIS would like to thank the organizers of the Barrels & Berms competition for their flexibility and willingness to adapt their program. In that way, the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup Tour does not lose an individual competition and athletes will be able to give it everything in the battle for valuable World Cup points.
“We really appreciate the flexibility of all of the stakeholders to make the change to the program at this late stage. I am sure both days of racing will be exciting for everyone involved and make for excellent TV pictures”, says Uwe Beier, FIS Snowboard Cross Race Director.
Where have we left off with the World Cup Tour?!
The last competition before Christmas was held in Cervinia (ITA), where snowy conditions challenged the organizers to do some excessive work on the course all night before race day. But in the end, perfect conditions with sunshine made for an exciting day of SBX racing on competition day. Add some Italian winners to that to only imagine how the home crowd went wild.
Michela Moioli took home her second win on home soil at Cervinia, the first having been in 2017.
Actually, it was an Italian feast, since also Italy’s Sofia Belingheri made it onto the podium, coming in third. Chloe Trespeuch (FRA) was in the middle of the Italian sandwich, claiming second place.
One will definitely have to watch out for Eva Samkova (CZE) here in Canada, she will for sure try to win the leader bib back, after she lost it in Cervinia by a mistake that took her out of the fight for the lead of the World Cup standings, shifting her into second place, 440 points behind Moioli.
One can only expect that local hero Tess Critchlow (CAN) will want to be in the podium mix in front of her home crowd as well. The 24-year-old from Kelowna is still waiting for her maiden World Cup individual podium so far, but maybe friends and family can give her the extra push to make it into the top three.
Critchlow captured bronze with teammate Carle Brenneman at the Veysonnaz Team SBX World Cup in 2017, and has enjoyed several top ten performances from 2015-2017.
And what about the men?
The same nations stood on the men’s podium that day in Cervinia, just in a different order. Lorenzo Sommariva took his maiden win on home soil, followed by Emanuel Perathoner (ITA) and Merlin Surget (FRA) rounding out the podium.
The World Cup leader bibs are now also in Italian hands, as reigning Olympic Champion Michela Moioli and Lorenzo Sommariva collected enough points to be in the lead.
Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT) will be definitely someone to watch out for at the Barrels & Berms competition. Having won the World Cup opener on home soil in Montafon, he proved to be in excellent shape again this season, sitting only 40 points behind Sommariva, he will want the leader bib back for sure.
We can expect Kevin Hill (CAN), local hero from Vernon and Kreischberg 2015 silver medallist want to show off his talent at home. With his last World Cup podium having been in Baqueira Beret (ESP) in March 2019, one can fore sure count Hill in for a possible podium spot at home.
With other top athletes in the field and a top track, one can only expect a great show!
Since it will be the first ever SBX World Cup race at Big White Ski Resort, there are no title defenders to be mentioned. We can’t wait to find out who will be the first ever champions of the back-to-back races!
Mark your calendars for qualifications being held on January 24, individual racing is going down on January 25 at 12:00 LOC/ 21:00 CET and the second individual race is scheduled for January 26 at 11:30 LOC/ 20:30 CET with a Pre-Heat qualification format.
WATCH LIVE
Saturday Jan 25:
ORF Sport+ (Austria), Eurosport 2 (Europe), Eurosport (Asia), NBC Sports Gold (USA)
CBC Sports Streaming (Canada), Live Streaming on TRT (Turkey)
Sunday Jan 26:
ORF Sport+ (Austria), CBC TV (Canada) Eurosport 2 (Europe), Eurosport (Asia), TRT Sports 2 (Turkey), NBC Sports Gold (USA)
CBC Sports Streaming (Canada), Live Streaming on TRT (Turkey)
Live streaming will also be available on our Youtube channel:
Saturday, Jan 25
Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region.
Full list of countries with the live streaming available can be found HERE.
Sunday , Jan 26
Full list of countries with the live streaming available can be found HERE.
QUICK LINKS:
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