Team Italy wins mixed-team event in Montafon
Dec 11, 2021·Snowboard Cross
We wouldn’t say that weather conditions were quite easy for the athletes on Saturday with some snow fall throughout the competition, but in any case, we definitely saw them send it fully down that Montafon World Cup track in teams.
Before we get into the deep-dive of this event format, we want to send some healing vibes to Mr. Omar Visintin (ITA), who had a bad crash yesterday at the individual competition and walked away with a concussion and an injured elbow. All the best, Omar and come back stronger!
So, each mixed-team consists of a female and male athlete, with the male going down the course first and the women starting out of the start gate in the order and with the relay of the men crossing the finish line. The maximum relay time is set to 2.36 seconds though.
Throughout the competition we saw some real racing action and some athletes state that it’s even more pressure racing in this format, since you don’t just have to deliver for yourself, but also and mostly for your team mate.
Fun to watch and definitely a good thing that this viewer-friendly format is going to be held at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games for the first time.
Team Italy for the win
The four top teams entering the start gate for the big final of the day were Italy 1 with Lorenzo Sommariva and Michela Moioli, Czech Republic 1 with Jan Kubicik and Eva Samkova, team France with Quentin Sodegas and Chloe Trespeuch and World Champions in this discipline team Austrlia 1 with Jarryd Hughes and Belle Brockhoff.
For the men, Lorenzo Sommariva pushed himself out of the gate as the fastest, taking the lead and a strong French Quentin Sodogas was sitting in second and Hughes in third with the Czech rider being in last position.
But then, suddenly, Jarryd Hughes crashed over one of o the rollers, leaving the way open for Kubicik to get into third position.
Sommariva was unstoppable getting into the following sections of the course and brought the lead down until the finish with a margin of 1.12 seconds ahead of team France and Kubicik crossing the finish line third.
Moioli had already the advantage of knowing that she would have a margin of over 1 seconds, so she started out and got over the first roller section of the course. Trespeuch came out second, Brockhoff made it to third and at the beginning a very strong Eva Samkova was in last position.
The Australian seemed to get dangerously close to Trespeuch, but then, all of a sudden and out of nowhere, “Ms. Moustache” Eva Samkova went for the pass to get into third position, edging Brockhoff to fourth.
After the final bank and into the finish straight, all of the athletes gathered a lot of speed, closing the gaps between each other and even to the leading Moioli, who took the win in the end. And, just like a miracle, Samkova pushed one more time and made it into second place. WOW – what a show, from fourth to second.
Unfortunately, the Czech athlete crashed in the finish when diving for that second place and had to get immediate medical assistance after that. In the meantime it was reported that Samkova suffered multiple fractures in her tibia and both ancles, which will take her out for the rest of the season.
Needless to say that we are sending loads of healing vibes to our favourite moustache on the tour! Comeback stronger, Eva!
“I am very happy after the bad race yesterday. In Montafon I never know, if I win or lose. Yesterday I lost, so crossing the finish line as first was an amazing feeling. I have to say thank you to my team mate Lorenzo, who did a great job and who is a good glider, so the snowy conditions suited him well. So, grazie Lorenzo,” Moioli said after the race.
The circuit will now pack up and travel to beautiful Cervinia, which is the Italian resort that presents the backside of the world-famous Matterhorn. We are having qualies on the 17 and finals on the 18 of December before heading into a little Christmas break.
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