Firework of emotions in Sierra Nevada (ESP)

This day was definitely one for the books! If you would have asked someone how the perfect day for everyone involved in the Snowboard Cross race here in Sierra Nevada would look like they would probably have described it exactly as it happened on Saturday’s race.

Infront of an amazing scenery the Spanish rider Lucas Eguibar showed some really good boarding in every single heat and took home his first win this season on home soil in front of his family and friends at a more than perfect sunny day. Besides that, Charlotte Bankes is back on top of the podium after world championships didn’t go as planned for her.

Amends for Charlotte Bankes
Women’s big final here in Sierra Nevada saw, Charlotte Bankes (GBR) in red, world cup leader Chloe Trespeuch (FRA) in green, Lindsey Jacobellis (USA) in blue and world champion Eva Adamczykova (CZE) in yellow.

Out of the gate, it were Adamczykova and Trespeuch with the fastest starts, followed by Bankes and Jacobellis in fourth position.

Until intermediate one the four women were riding down like this really close to each other, when Bankes suddenly made a very smart move. While Adamczykova took the outermost line in the next turn and Trespeuch the one next to the Czech rider, Bankes was carving the inside line and passed both women.

So the new order was Bankes in front, followed by Trespeuch and Adamczykova board by board and Jacobellis lurking for the next opportunity to pass. The opportunity for Jacobellis already came in the next turn, as she made the same smart move as Bankes before and overtook Trespeuch and Adamczykova in the inside line.

This new order didn’t last for too long as Trespeuch fought back her second position already in the next turn. And guess how? Right, by taking the inside line.

Right before the finish straight it looked like Bankes can easily take home this win, as she already was some meters in front of her prosecutors. Luckily the finish strait wasn’t too long, as Trespeuch gained a lot of speed in the last roller section and almost overtook Bankes in the last meters.

After she didn’t get the result she was hoping for at the world championships, Bankes managed to “reset and went on to the next world cup as” she “got good into the season”. She “just wanted to come back strong and giving the best” and this is exactly what she did on Saturday’s race and won well deserved.

Trespeuch got second and so can keep the yellow leader bib, Jacobellis got third and Adamczykova fourth in the end.

Emotions over emotions for Lucas Eguibar
On the men’s side of things, we saw Omar Visitin (ITA) in red, Loan Bozzolo (FRA) in green, Lorenzo Sommariva (ITA) in blue, and Lucas Eguibar (ESP) in yellow in the big final waiting for the gate to drop.

Eguibar who showed some really good riding all day long and won except of one heat every single one also had the fastest reaction time in the final heat. Visitin had the second fastes, Bozzolo the third and Sommariva the slowest reaction time.

The order changed after the start section and so it was Eguibar leading the four men into the first bank, followed by Visitin and Bozzolo and Sommeriva head-to-head.

Sommeriva made a small mistake at the exit of the bank which slowed him down and opened the door for his teammate to pass him, which he did. But also this pass didn’t last for too long as Visitin fought back his second position already in the next turn, as he took the inside line.

From this moment on, the positions of the four athletes were clear. Eguibar was leading all the way down to the finish and took home his second home soil win here in Sierra Nevada. Visitin got second, Sommariva third, which means double podium for Italy and Bozzolo got fourth.

You can not imagine what an amazing atmosphere it was when Eguibar crossed the finish line first. Hundreds of people were screaming and celebrating the win of their local hero. “It is always something special to race at home” said Eguibar. He thanked Sierra Nevada, all the volunteers who are working so hard to make such a world cup happen and of course also the crowed which pushed him forward all day long and were part of this victory.

The emotions of an athlete winning on home soil is always something very special.

It looks like we will get another awesome spring day tomorrow with a lot of sun, warm temperatures and a view over Andalusia. Let’s see if we can also see another fabulous day for Spain as we saw on the first race.

New and old World Cup leaders: Chloe Trespeuch (FRA) and Martin Noerl (GER)

WATCH Finals LIVE (subject to change)
Sunday, 12.03.2023 at 12:00 CET: