Deja vu as Duplessis Kergomard wins on day two of Ski Cross at Reiteralm

It was a case of deja vu for Youri Duplessis Kergomard on day two of the FIS Ski Cross World Cup tour in Reiteralm, as he won the men's big final a year on from winning his first World Cup on the same track last season.

The similarities were stark. Duplessis Kergomard was fastest in qualifying for both of this week's races, just as he was 11 months ago, and finished fifth on day one and first on day two of racing to perfectly replicate his two results from 2024.

Simone Deromedis of Italy finished second in the Friday's big final, as he did the year previously, and France's Terence Tchiknavorian narrowly missed out on making it the exact same podium as last time out when he was beaten to third place by Canada's Kevin Drury.

"It was so exhausting but I'm so happy," Duplessis Kergomard said.

"It's a night for expression and tomorrow we go back to work because we have a few more World Cups to come."

Deromedis said of second place: "I feel really surprised because I had a lot of trouble in this track the past three days.

"I had some good runs in the qualy, but then yesterday was really, really bad feelings.

“Today I found out how to do the start and a couple other things. It turned out way better than I could imagine."

Drury said his third-place finish was a result of some "pretty scary" passes after he had made the decision to ski with less caution on day two in Reiteralm.

"It was pretty rough out there today - pretty bumpy," Drury said.

"Especially after yesterday, I just kind of had the mentality of 'I'm gonna send it'. The more aggressive skiers yesterday came out on top, and that was my goal today.

"I made some passes that were probably pretty scary, but I was just going for it.

“I felt really, really comfortable in my skis; I was in that flow state, everything felt slow, it felt easy and I'm just so happy."

While Duplessis Kergomard paid tongue-in-cheek credit to his moustache for his success on the snow, Drury says his is down to a family ring containing lapis lazuli which he always carries with him on the tour.

"This is my family crest. We can date our family back generations to England," he explains. "I've skied with that every single race for five years."

Florian Wilmsmann had earlier missed out on a place in the big final when he suffered a coming together with Germany team-mate Tobias Mueller in the semi-final. Tchiknavorian was also caught up in the aftermath, but got to his feet quicker than Wilmsmann to eventually take second place and progress to the big final.

Wilmsmann duly won the small final ahead of Adam Kappacher of Austria in sixth, Mueller in seventh, and countryman Cornel Renn in eighth.

As a result, not too much damage was done to Wilmsmann's lead in the Overall, where he is 70 points ahead of Deromedis, who in turn is 80 points ahead of Duplessis Kergomard in third.

Alex Fiva and Reece Howden, meanwhile, have dropped places after Switzerland's Fiva did not race on Friday following his collision with Erik Mobaerg in Thursday's semi-final, while Canada's Howden failed to qualify for both days of racing in Reiteralm this week.

Fiva now sits fourth, a solitary point behind Duplessis Kergomard and eight points ahead of Howden. Drury has moved into sixth place after he continued his solid run of podium places this term.

Sherret takes Overall from Maier

In the women's section there was chaos aplenty from the semi-finals onward, as Marielle Thompson crossed the line first ahead of compatriots Brittany Phelan and Hannah Schmidt after Germany's Daniela Maier had suffered a crash that ruled her out of their semi-final.

However, Thompson was deemed to have committed a line deviation in causing Maier's crash, which not only cost the Canadian a place in the big final, but also meant she was unable to take part in the small final which gave her an automatic eighth-place finish.

"I was really surprised to receive a yellow card today because I made a clean pass," Thompson said. "I pride myself on being a clean racer, and I know that I didn't deviate my line, so it was really shocking to me.

"I hope they'll overturn it, but it was really disappointing not to make it to the final and not also be able to ski the small final."

Schmidt and Phelan, meanwhile, were involved in a big collision of their own in the big final, which ruled both athletes out of the race. Schmidt was ultimately awarded third place due to her superior time in qualifying, but was unable to take her place on the podium as she was on her way to hospital at the time of the ceremony.

In the end it was India Sherret of Canada who finished first in the big final, seeing off the challenge of Switzerland's Fanny Smith to not only win the day, but also usurp Maier at the top of the Women's Overall.

“I’m super happy with the win, but I’m a little bit frazzled,” said Sherret.

“With the two girls that went down it’s hard not to be concerned about them. I saw Brit ski down but I’m obviously worried about Hannah. Hopefully they’re OK, and after that I’ll let myself be really happy.”

Sherret's place at the summit is her reward for remarkable consistency this season. Since finishing fifth in the opening race in Val Thorens, the 28-year-old has not failed to make the big final in any of the six races that followed, picking up four podiums - including two victories - along the way.

"I feel amazing, I'm super psyched,” Sherret continued.

“I'm really happy with how I skied today. I felt really confident, really locked in and it took me to the win.”

Smith said of her third podium of the season: "I'm really happy. I feel the confidence is coming back slowly. I see, and I know, that I can ski well and now everything needs to come together."

Thompson is in third place in the Overall after a disappointing two days in Reiteralm, while Schmidt is in fourth and Smith lies fifth after claiming second-place finishes on both days on the Austrian slope.

France's Marielle Berger Sabbatel is slightly off the pace in the Overall, but her cause was helped by winning Friday's small final ahead of Jole Galli of Italy in sixth and Maier in seventh.