Bankes claims 25th World Cup win as Tomas takes debut victory
Mar 09, 2025·Snowboard Cross)
After missing out on the knockout rounds in Saturday’s FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup races in Gudauri, Georgia, tour leader Charlotte Bankes (GBR) was back on top on Sunday with a historic 25th individual win.
Showcasing her trademark skill in overtaking, Bankes came from behind in the big final to add valuable points, ahead of Saturday’s winner Julia Pereira de Sousa (FRA) and Lea Casta (FRA).
Meanwhile an ecstatic Julien Tomas (FRA) took a career-first World Cup win with a thrilling race to the line against Lukas Pachner (AUT), after overall leader Eliot Grondin (CAN) was knocked out in the quarterfinals and Saturday’s winner Jakob Dusek (AUT) in the semifinals.
Bankes back on top
The women’s field was missing two big names, with Josie Baff (AUS) and Michela Moioli (ITA) both choosing not to start. Moioli finished third on Saturday while Baff was ninth.
The favourites all made it safely through the initial round and into the quarterfinals. There, Saturday’s victor Pereira de Sousa found herself caught after a fast start with 17-year-old Noemie Wiedmer (SUI), fourth on day 1, progressing in first place ahead of the French rider.
Karolina Hrusova (CZE) had an eventful day, claiming a place in the semifinals after a photofinish with Mia Clift (AUS) where both riders flung themselves on the line. In the semifinal, Hrusova landed badly after a jump where she was close behind Bankes, and crashed out of contention. She chose not to start the small final, but earned an eighth-place finish overall.
Bankes overtook both Wiedmer and the early leader Pereira de Sousa to claim a place in the big final, with Pereira de Sousa holding off the young Swiss rider for her second shot at the podium in two days.
There were two other Frenchwomen in the second semifinal: Casta and Manon Petit Lenoir (FRA). Casta did enough early on to take the win, but Pia Zerkhold (AUT) proved stronger than Petit Lenoir in the dash to the line.
In the big final it was – as so often this season – the French riders who led out, with Casta and Pereira de Sousa exchanging the lead in the first section of the course.
Bankes generated speed with a couple of big sends and had moved into first place by the third intermediate marker, giving her enough advantage to hold on for her fifth win of the season, and her 25th individual victory. It is almost exactly 10 years since her first, in La Molina in 2015.
“It’s amazing. Yesterday was tough, but Jerome found the words to refocus me for today. We put a massive team effort out there today to be able to pull it off,” Bankes said, crediting her coach Jerome Choupin.
She said the big final had gone to plan.
“I’m really happy that I managed to pull it off in the end. It was tight racing but it really felt like that was a smooth run where I was in control,” Bankes said.
Pereira de Sousa took second, capping an excellent weekend for the 23-year-old. Casta was third, continuing her consistent performance this season with six podium finishes from six big final appearances.
Zerkhold finished fourth, matching her best performance this season but unable to make the extra step to the podium.
In the small final, Manon Petit Lenoir took a straightforward fifth place overall ahead of Meryeta Odine (CAN) and Wiedmer.
Bankes continues to lead the World Cup standings, extending her advantage over Casta to 57 points after it closed up to 17 points following Saturday's action. Casta has a large margin of 166 points to Baff in third, while Pereira de Sousa has moved into fourth with 320 points, ahead of Moioli with 303.
Women's highlights
Tomas speeds to career first win
The men’s 1/8 finals were marked by a series of crashes, taking out Jake Vedder (USA), Elias Leitner (AUT) and Evan Bichon (CAN). Leitner came off in almost the same place as he crashed with Eliot Grondin (CAN) in Saturday's big final.
Nathan Pare (USA) crashed out in the quarterfinals, clipping edges with Aidan Chollet (FRA). While Chollet was able to stay on course he could not catch Glenn Blois De (NED) or Leo le Ble Jacques (FRA), denting his position in the overall standings.
The softer conditions also put paid to Omar Visintin (ITA)’s hopes, after the Italian rider caught his edge on a landing in the quarterfinals as he was chasing Saturday’s winner Jakob Dusek (AUT).
Grondin had a difficult day. While he looked solid in the early rounds, in the quarterfinal Lukas Pachner (AUT) and Julien Tomas (FRA) pegged back the tour leader’s early advantage and it was Tomas, with a big last send, who took the second place in the semifinal behind Pachner.
Dusek won his 1/8 and quarterfinal heats, but missed out on the big final in a photofinish with an in-form Cameron Bolton (AUS) and Loan Bozzolo (FRA). Dusek went on to take fifth overall with a solid run in the small final, ahead of Blois De in sixth and le Ble Jacques in seventh. Lucas Eguibar (ESP) was eighth.
The big final proved dramatic. Bolton had the early lead but was caught by Pachner and then Tomas. With the pack close, any mistake would be costly, and Bolton and Bozzolo both came down when the big Australian landed a jump awkwardly, his outstretched arms catching Bozzolo and taking both riders out.
That led to a neck-and-neck finish between Tomas and Pachner, with the speed generated by Tomas’s final jump giving him the slight advantage over the line and his first-ever World Cup victory and podium finish. The 21-year-old celebrated by diving over the fence to embrace his team.
Pachner’s second place was his first individual podium since March 2021, when he finished second in Bakuriani – also in Georgia. Bozzolo claimed his second podium of the season in third, with Bolton fourth.
“The track is so nice, my board is very fast, the sun is with me. Now I’ll just go and drink beer with my friends.”
Despite missing the big final Grondin continues to hold a big lead in the overall standings, now 145 points ahead of Dusek in second. Leon Ulbricht (GER), who sat out Sunday’s racing due to illness, is in third place but Tomas’s win means he leapfrogs Bozzolo into fourth. Only five points separate Tomas from Ulbricht, and there are just three between Tomas and Bozzolo.
Bolton and Pachner both have 244 points, while Chollet has tumbled down the rankings this weekend and now sits eighth with 222.
There are four World Cup races left this season, with individual and Mixed Team events in Montafon, Austria, between 20-22 March. The season culminates with the final two individual races in Mont Sainte-Anne, Canada, from 4-6 April.
Men's highlights
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