Pereira de Sousa claims career-first World Cup win as Casta closes in on overall No.1
Mar 08, 2025·Snowboard Cross)
After two big finals without a podium this season, Julia Pereira de Sousa (FRA) claimed a career-first victory in the FIS Snowboard World Cup as she edged teammate Lea Casta (FRA) in Gudauri, Georgia on Saturday.
Crossing the line some centimeters before overall World Cup No.2 Casta, Pereira de Sousa's win was also her first podium in four years, having finished fourth in her two previous races, in Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA) and Erzurum (TUR). Italy's Michela Moioli completed the podium.
"I have no words. I'm so happy. Thank you, Gudauri," an emotional Pereira de Sousa said, struggling to hold back her tears.
She dedicated the victory to her late father.
Casta closes gap to Bankes
Casta had been the favourite to win the big final, where she had a chance to move into first place in the overall World Cup standings after leader Charlotte Bankes (GBR) on Friday surprisingly failed to qualify for the top-16 and a place in Saturday's knockout phase.
It was however Pereira de Sousa who had been fastest in the qualifying round, before Casta in second place.
Battling it out for the podium, the French duo and the 2018 Olympic champion Moioli were joined by 17-year-old Noemie Wiedmer (SUI), who had made it to the first big final of her career after beating Casta in the quarterfinal.
On the flat and long Gudauri track, measuring just over 1km with a vertical drop of 40m and a total of 40 features, Casta got off to an explosive start and came into the first curve as the clear leader of the big final, only Pereira de Sousa managing to keep up.
In the last right-hand curve before the difficult last jump and corner combination, the two teammates were board by board and in a final push, Pereira de Sousa managed to get in front of her 19-year-old teammate, claiming the victory with a margin of four hundredths of a second.
"It's really interesting to ride with Lea," the winner said.
Season's second podium for Moioli
Pereira de Sousa's last World Cup podium had also come in Georgia; a second place in Bakurani on 4 March 2021, adding to her three previous third places.
"I'm really happy, happy about this (first) place and to be back on the podium in almost three years with no podium, after a lot of injuries on my knee," she said.
"I hope that it is going to be the same for tomorrow (Sunday) and for the rest of the season. I'm super happy."
Behind the French roommates, Moioli showed why she is No.4 in the overall World Cup rankings as she clinched a second podium spot this season, in the sixth of this winter's 10 World Cup races. The Italian 29-year-old's previous top-three finish had come in Beidahu, China, in February, where she was second behind Bankes.
First big final for Wiedmer
Big final debutant Wiedmer had to wait a little longer for a maiden World Cup podium, but had plenty to be pleased about on Saturday as she moved up from No.7 to a sixth place in the overall standings at 207 points, 33 points behind Pereira de Sousa had advanced from eighth to fifth.
Despite an early exit, Bankes still remains the leader of the Crystal Globe chase, however, with Casta closing the gap behind her. With a total of five podiums this season, including one victory, Casta's second place earned her another 80 points to take her total score to 445, 17 fewer than the Brit, with four races left of the season including one more in Gudauri on Sunday.
Australia's Belle Brockhoff made it to the final heats for the first time of the season and won her quarterfinal before Karolina Hrusova (CZE) but suffered a fall in the last stretch of the small final, leaving the competition injured on a stretcher.
Hrusova won the small final to claim the fifth place and advance to No.11 in the overall standings, Meryeta Odine (CAN) and Jana Fischer (GER) behind her grabbing place six and seventh respectively.
Dusek back with season's second win
Austria's Jakob Dusek won the men's big final to top a World Cup podium for the first time since the season opener in Cervinia (ITA) in December.
The 28-year-old, who had been knocked out before the semifinals in all four competitions since the first race of the season, led the big final from start to finish and won by a clear margin before runner-up Adam Lambert (AUS) as overall World Cup No.1 Eliot Grondin (CAN) took the last podium spot.
"Today was just a great race, I'm super happy with today's riding," Dusek said.
After qualifying from his 1/8 final in second place behind overall World Cup runner-up Leon Ulbricht (GER), he won three straight heats to claim the third World Cup victory in the country where he took his only World Championships gold medal, in Bakuriani 2023.
"It was a little bit sloppy in the first heat but afterwards I think I was spot on and I really liked the runs I did," Dusek said.
On Sunday, Dusek will hope for another triumph in Gudauri, where he claimed a European Cup victory in March 2019.
Grondin extends lead despite crash
In the absence of Ulbricht, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals, and overall No.3, Aidan Chollet (FRA), who had failed to qualify on Friday, Grondin had been looking for a third victory this season to extend his lead in the overall standings as the season came into its second half.
Having just about qualified for the semifinal with a late move into second place behind Lukas Pachner (AUT) in his quarterfinal, however, Grondin stayed in fourth place in the big final and the final push for victory never came. Instead, 21-year-old Elias Leitner (AUT), in the first big final of his career, lost balance and crashed into him in the last stretch of the track.
"Today was pretty challenging for us. We didn't have quite fast boards so it made it a bit more spicy for me. In the end I stayed back, trying to get the drafts in the pack and make some moves at the bottom, which I did pretty good in the second two runs," Grondin said.
Awarded the third place and a fourth podium this season, however, defending Crystal Globe winner Grondin could still increase his lead in the overall standings. On 435, the Canadian 23-year-old has a 161-point lead over Dusek, whose win made him leap from fourth to second place.
The warm weather is expected to remain on Sunday, as Grondin will look to try to extend his lead further.
"It was a bit challenging, the weather was super warm, the track was actually in OK condition considering everything but definitely a bit more challenging than usual with that kind of weather," he said, adding that "tomorrow is a new day" but that he was "not thinking about tomorrow just yet".
Loan Bozzolo (FRA) suffered a fall to finish last in his semifinal, but made up for it by claiming the victory in the small final, jumping past compatriot Chollet in the overall standings to take over the fourth place.
With four races left of the season, only 80 points separate Dusek and No.6 Cameron Bolton (AUS) in the close battle for the top spots in the World Cup standings.
Julien Tomas (FRA) made it to the quarterfinals and jumped up from ninth to seventh place in the overall World Cup standings, where he is the highest ranked athlete who has still not made it to a podium this winter.
Lambert's solid run in the big final made him advance 12 places in the overall standings, where he took over the ninth place.
As the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup action in the Gudauri sun continues on Sunday with a preheat round at 9:30 local time / 6:30 CET. The men will start with 1/16 finals, the women starting with 1/8 finals, where the fastest two from each heat proceed to the next round.
After a short break, the finals start at 11.30 local time / 8.30 CET, with men's 1/8 finals and women's quarterfinals.
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