Thompson and Drury take another win in Megève

As the ski cross circuit came back to Megève in the French Alps, the entire finals were nothing short of excitement and good action.

For the women’s big final it was Marielle Thompson (CAN), french hero Marielle Berger-Sabbatel (FRA) and the Swedish duo Sandra Naeslund and Alexandra Edebo, who managed to get into the big final already a couple of times this season, but was never lucky enough to stand on the podium, until today.

The women started off and it was Thompson taking the lead of the heat with Naeslund sitting in second, Edebo third and Berger-Sabbatel in fourth position. The Canadian’s skis just went off and Thompson was way ahead of the heat with Naeslund really trying to get closer and make a pass and it looked like it was about to happen after the second negative turn and just before the final jump, but Thompson kept her cool and the lead making it safely to the finish and Naeslund coming in 0.07 seconds as second and Edebo and Berger-Sabbatel getting a photo finish, in which Edebo ended up being ahead of the French athlete, making it her first-ever podium.

Who did not make it into the big final this time was Swiss superstar Fanny Smith, who skied on Naeslund’s skis in the semi-final, causing her speed to drop and she was not able to get back into the fight to advance into the big final, she did however manage to win the small final, which also gave her valuable World Cup point in the fight for the ski cross crystal globe.

In the men’s big final, it was World Cup leader Kevin Drury facing French hero Bastien Midol and the Germans Tim Hronek and Florian Wilmsmann. Drury shot out like a rocket, taking the lead instantly with Bastien Midol in second and Wilmsmann third.
Drury and Midol did show some very technical skiing, going for the clear lines. Midol tried to get closer to the Canadian, but Drury simply was too far ahead and did take his fourth win this season.

It was in the second negative turn, when Wilmsmann chose the higher line and came in too late for the next turn, in that was it was a clear way for Hronek to make the pass, getting in third and making it into the finish, edging Wilmsmann off the podium.

“I knew I had the speed, I was confident with that and I just knew I had to get through this first turn, where all the contact was happening, so through all of my heats I was a little cautious in that first turn and it just so happened that I kept having better and better starts and especially with that last start and after the first turn, I knew I could hold the others off and that I could make it,” World Cup leader Kevin Drury commented after the race.

Speaking of Kevin Drury, the Canadian is now at 688 points at the World Cup standings, which is exactly 234 points ahead of Switzerland’s Ryan Regez and on to number three came Bastien Midol with his second place today making it a total of 393 points for him in the standings.

With only two more competitions remaining this season, it makes Drury already the Ski Cross World Cup overall winner of this season. That means, the Crystal Globe is already in his pocket, and nobody can take it away from him.

On the women’s side, Sandra Naeslund counts now an overall of 810 points, exactly 114 points more than Fanny Smith with a total of 696 points, but Canada’s Marielle Thompson is also really close with a total of 659 points. So, the deal is still not closed for Naeslund with two more competitions to go.

Since the German competitions in Feldberg had to be cancelled due to lack of snow, there is now a little break of two weeks for the athletes to recover and recharge their batteries and the circuit will be going to Russia’s Sunny Valley resort for the next competition scheduled for February 22-23.

QUICK LINKS

Megève World Cup data page (results, brackets, etc.)
Full women’s results
Big final Women (video)
World Cup standings Women
Full men’s results
Big final Men (video)
World Cup standings Men
Megève Photos (for editorial use)
Full Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup calendar