Snowboard Cross returns to Türkiye for first time in seven years

The FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup tour continues this weekend, with athletes heading to Erzurum in Türkiye for the first time since 2018.

The competition includes the debut of the mixed team event for the 2024/25 season, in addition to individual men’s and women’s races.

Racing begins with qualification on Friday 28 February at 11:20 local time (09:20 CET), followed by individual finals on Saturday 1 March from 13:30 local time (11:30 CET). The team finals begin at 13:30 local time (11:30 CET) on Sunday 2 March.

Although it is seven seasons since the tour last raced in Erzurum, several athletes who were successful there in 2018 are still competing, including the men’s winner Omar Visintin (ITA) and third-placed Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT). On the women’s side, Michela Moioli (ITA) and current World Cup leader Charlotte Bankes (GBR) were third and fifth respectively back in 2018.

Bankes comes into Erzurum this time as the undisputed leader in the standings, 65 points clear of Lea Casta (FRA) after wins in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Beidahu. Eliot Grondin (CAN), despite crashing out in the semifinals in Cortina two weeks ago, still has a comfortable 125-point advantage over Aidan Chollet (FRA) on the men’s side.

More surprises on the cards?

Grondin’s exit in the semifinals in the last World Cup race in Cortina was one of the surprises of the weekend, which saw a debut victory for Chollet and debut podiums for Kurt Hoshino (GER) and Cody Winters (USA).

The current standings reflect the depth of competition this season, with a mixture of experienced and younger riders all fighting for places.

Hoshino is one of the new generation who could again surprise in Erzurum. He says he was shocked by his second place at the last World Cup, where he beat Winters in a photofinish after sneaking through the rounds in a series of tight races.

“As soon as it happened it didn’t feel real. The moment was sort of frozen in time and I couldn’t really believe it,” Hoshino says, a fortnight on.

It was only the 24-year-old’s sixth World Cup start, after cutting his teeth on the junior and European Cup circuits; his World Cup debut in Sierra Nevada was almost exactly a year ago on 1 March 2024, where he finished 47th in qualification and 29th overall on day 2 of the World Cup.

That learning is something he wants to continue in Türkiye this weekend.

“My hopes for the next race are to go into it with a fresh mind, and focus on my qualifying. And then try to learn as much as I can while racing,” Hoshino says.

Hoshino’s results this season put him 13th overall in the standings. While Grondin is clearly in the lead, the race behind him is hotting up with each race; only 10 points separate Jakob Dusek (AUT) in third place from Lorenzo Sommariva (ITA) in seventh. That shows that more surprises could well be on the cards this weekend.

Brockhoff to make season debut

Australian rider Belle Brockhoff has been a serious contender in the World Cup standings in recent years, with three overall podiums and a sixth-place finish in 2023/24. She has missed racing so far this season after breaking her wrist in a training accident in November, but will start on Friday in Erzurum wearing bib number 1 for qualification.

Brockhoff says her recovery and rehabilitation from the injury has been going “very well”, adding: “I’m lacking range in the joint but I’ll get that back once I remove both plates in April. But overall I’m happy with it.”

She has got to the point where she is feeling able to race, starting with qualification races in Erzurum.

“My aim is to do time trials here in Turkey and then go into full racing from Georgia onwards,” Brockhoff says. The next World Cup takes place in Gudauri next week, from 7 to 9 March.

But although Brockhoff has been missing from the startlists lately, there has been no shortage of Australian success on the Snowboard Cross circuit. Australians Josie Baff, Mia Clift and Amber Essex are ranked third, eighth and 10th respectively in the standings and have featured heavily at the sharp end of racing this season.

“It’s been really awesome watching the girls, Mia, Josie and Amber, on our Australian team grow in numbers and quickly progress,” Brockhoff says.

She has also been keeping an eye on other contenders.

“I’ve also been watching Noemie Wiedmer (SUI) and Lea Casta who have a very modern style of riding. It’ll be interesting and exciting to see how this style takes over SBX over the next two years,” Brockhoff says.

Indeed Casta and Wiedmer have both had good seasons to date; Wiedmer is currently seventh overall. Other riders to watch out for in Erzerum include the consistently strong Moioli (fourth overall), as well as fifth and six-placed Manon Petit Lenoir (FRA) and Sina Siegenthaler (SUI).

France looking for team success

Based on their individual results this season, with five men in the top 11 of the standings and four women in the top 13, France are a team to watch when it comes to Sunday’s BXT racing.

At the first BXT race in 2023/24, in Les Deux Alpes, it was Bankes and Huw Nightingale who came out on top for Great Britain, with France's Loan Bozzolo and Chloe Trespeuch second.

Italy has also been a regular contender in the team event. Moioli and Visintin won in Cervinia last season ahead of Bozzolo and Trespeuch.

But other nations such as Australia, Austria, Switzerland and the United States are also likely contenders, in what will surely be an exciting finale to the weekend.

TV broadcast information

Facts & Figures

6: nations represented in the current men’s top 10 in the standings
7: years since the World Cup tour last stopped in Türkiye
350: Charlotte Bankes’ (GBR) current World Cup points tally after four events

QUICK LINKS

Race Calendar
2024-25 Men's Cup Standings
2024-25 Women's Cup Standings
Start lists - Erzurum, TUR
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