Casta and Grondin cap off Snowboard Cross Crystal Globes with final wins
Apr 06, 2025·Snowboard Cross
This year’s FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup overall winners, Lea Casta (FRA) and Eliot Grondin (CAN), took the victories in the final race of the season on Sunday in Mont-Sainte-Anne to finish on a high.
Both riders knew after their performances on Saturday that they were guaranteed to take home the 2025 Crystal Globes, but neither took their foot off the gas.
For Casta, it was the third win in a row and the fourth overall; the 19-year-old has reached the podium in all nine of her big final appearances this year, with her worst finish fifth in Beidahu. This is her first Crystal Globe in her third World Cup season.
After coming second on Saturday, Grondin found the edge he needed on Sunday to claim victory. In a hotly contested season, the defending World Cup champion made six podiums in seven big finals; Grondin missed the semifinals only once, finishing ninth on day 2 in Gudauri after crashing in the big final on day 1.
As well as the Crystal Globes, other achievements were recognised in Mont-Sainte-Anne as Austrian Elias Leitner and Swiss rider Noemie Wiedmer were named Rookies of the Season.
Wiedmer, still just 17 years old, ended the season with fifth place on Sunday. Her worst finish was two 13th places in Beidahu in February, and at the Engadin 2025 FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships. She ended the day sixth overall in her first World Cup season.
Leitner finished 34th overall in the standings in his first full World Cup season. The 24-year-old consistently reached the knockout rounds in each race, with his best finish being fourth in Gudauri.
France won the Snowboard Cross Nations Cup after an outstanding season from their men, women and mixed teams. Austria claimed the overall Snowboard Nations Cup after impressing in all four disciplines – Snowboard Cross, Snowboard Alpine and Snowboard Park & Pipe.
Casta ends on top
While most of this season’s strongest riders made it safely through the women’s pre-heats, Aline Albrecht (SUI), who had matched her career-best finish of fourth on Saturday, missed out on the quarterfinals after she was unable to catch Hanna Percy (USA).
Casta looked dominant in her quarterfinal, despite coming just off-balance on the jump into the finish. The same applied for Sina Siegenthaler (SUI), displaying continued strong form after her third place on day 1, while Manon Petit Lenoir (FRA) had a better run to reach the semifinals behind the Swiss rider.
World bronze medalist Julia Pereira de Sousa (FRA) missed out on the semifinals on Saturday, but produced a better run on Sunday to win her quarterfinal ahead of Mia Clift (AUS). Josie Baff (AUS) also improved from Saturday’s racing, coming through ahead of Wiedmer in quarterfinal 4.
Casta and Siegenthaler’s strong form continued in the semifinals and they booked their places in a second successive big final, with the Swiss rider beating Casta on the line. In a tight semifinal 2, Pereira de Sousa took a good win, with Clift making her second big final on the trot by edging out compatriot Baff.
In the big final, Casta produced a storming run to cap off her season in style. Siegenthaler and Clift swapped positions from day 1, with Siegenthaler second and Clift third – the Australian taking her second career podium after Saturday’s second place.
“I was behind again today. I think I need to work on those big finals now. Last year it was the semifinals. I had a strong finish and it went good, I guess,” Siegenthaler said afterwards.
Clift added: “The big final was a lot of fun with all the girls. I was third into (turn) 2 and then following Julia, and I got her out of (turn) 4. And I kept pushing until the finish and then followed Lea, but got a bit crazy myself over the double and then kind of ruined it. But still got third, so super-happy.”
Wiedmer won the small final to finish fifth, with Baff sixth, Pia Zerkhold (AUT) seventh and Petit Lenoir eighth.
In the overall season standings, Casta took the win with 805 points ahead of Charlotte Bankes (GBR) with 622, after the British rider missed the last two races following a training crash earlier in the week. Pereira de Sousa secured a career-best finish in third, while Baff was fourth for a second year in a row.
Fifth place for Siegenthaler was also a career best. Wiedmer was sixth, 2025 world champion Michela Moioli seventh, Clift eighth, Petit Lenoir ninth and Zerkhold 10th.
Women's highlights
Grondin withstands challenge from Chollet
The men’s pre-heats saw a couple of high-profile riders fail to progress: Lorenzo Sommariva (ITA) and Nick Baumgartner (USA), the latter dropping out of contention after a mistake which caused him to drop back from second to fourth.
As the sun came out a little later on and racing resumed, there were several crashes in the men’s 1/8 finals, taking out riders including 2024 junior world champion Leon Ulbricht (GER) – one of the top 10 in the overall standings.
Close racing continued in the quarterfinals. Adam Lambert (AUS) won the first photofinish of the round to take his place in the next round ahead of Quentin Sodogas (FRA), as Grondin cruised to another win.
Nathan Pare (USA) secured his first podium finish on Saturday but was unable to repeat that on Sunday after crashing out when he clipped edges with Guillaume Herpin (FRA). Herpin held on for second place behind Aidan Chollet (FRA), knocking out Cameron Bolton (AUS) and ensuring a career-best finish with a place in the semifinals.
In the third quarterfinal Lukas Pachner (AUT) was the only rider to escape a collision between teammates Alessandro Haemmerle and Saturday’s winner Jakob Dusek, for which Dusek was then relegated. Lucas Eguibar (ESP) came off-balance after the crash, but recovered to cross the line in second place.
The semifinal line-up was completed by Loan Bozzolo (FRA) and Radek Houser (CZE) thanks to a strong finish.
Chollet beat Grondin in a photofinish in their semifinal, but the Crystal Globe winner still progressed safely to the big final. Bozzolo, once again, joined him in the next stage, alongside Houser – the Czech rider making his second big final of the season.
After the semifinal, Grondin’s desire to secure the win in the last race was clear as he stormed out of the blocks in the big final. Chollet was once again hot on the Canadian’s heels, but Grondin held on to take victory, to the delight of the fans waving giant cutouts of his head at the finish.
Chollet said: “It’s the best feeling for me today. Second place is really good.
“It was a crazy final. It was quite interesting. I stayed behind Eliot, I couldn’t overtake him because he was so fast. It was cool, it went all the way to the end, and it was too much fun.”
Bozzolo took third ahead of Houser, the result confirming his second place overall in the standings.
“It was pretty hard for me, because at the end of the start section, I don’t know why, I didn’t move (on) the last feature, and I just hit the knuckle, hit my knee. And I was like ‘I don’t have any speed’, so I pushed hard. I think I made a good fight in the middle and the end, and I went in the finish line pretty fast, but not enough to beat Eliot and Aidan, who was pretty fast today," Bozzolo said.
An incredibly tight small final was won by Lambert, after he had crashed out of the semifinals. Eguibar finished sixth overall, with Pachner seventh and Herpin eighth.
Grondin took home the Crystal Globe with a total tally of 684 points, while Bozzolo was second with 473. Dusek finished third. Chollet was fourth and Julien Tomas (FRA) fifth. Both Frenchmen secured their best-ever rankings, as did sixth-placed Lambert, Pachner in seventh and Ulbricht in eighth. The top 10 was completed by Bolton and Merlin Surget (FRA).
Men's highlights
The double-header in Mont-Sainte-Anne concludes the Snowboard Cross World Cup season, after 10 races around the world from December through to April.
Athletes will now head to the off-season in preparation for 2025/26, which will bring all-important qualification for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and of course the Olympics themselves, in February 2026.
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