Bankes and Noerl race to victories in Krasnoyarsk
Jan 08, 2022·Snowboard Cross
On Saturday it was a truly Siberian experience in Krasnoyarsk (RUS) for the snowboard cross family, as it was -24 degrees in the morning, which led to literally frozen eye lashes, but definitely didn’t cut the fire in the athletes to give their all and everything in the competition.
It was after all the penultimate battle for the last tickets for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022, since the Olympic qualification process still lasts until January 16.
It was the very first time, Krasnoyarsk hosted a Snowboard Cross World Cup and it was truly a fantastic show and it felt good to have spectators in the stands that cheered on the athletes with loads of excitement.
Bankes unstoppable
For the first big final of women this year we saw Aussie Belle Brockhoff, World Champion Charlotte Bankes, Sochi bronze medallist Chloe Trespeuch from France and veteran Lindsey Jacobellis (USA) in the start gate. One thing was clear before the start – this was going to be one hell of a fight for the podium spots.
Brockhoff shot out of the start gate like a rocket and managed the start section in the best way to secure her position at the very front of the heat. Bankes then kept her cool and slowly approached the leading Aussie, waiting patiently for the moment to make the pass. And then, over the kicker of the upper part of the section, Brockhoff got attacked from the left and right all at once. Bankes and Trespeuch overtook Brockhoff in the air and coming into the next bank, it was a head-to-head battle between the tall French and the World Champ.
The heat then got really close again and in the roller section, Bankes won enough speed to take the lead and stay in front, whereas Trespeuch was sitting in second. A little bit behind Jacobellis and Brockhoff were now neck-and-neck. Jacobellis took the inside line approaching the final jump and this seemed like the decisive moment for the last podium spot, because Brockhoff could not manage to pass the American in the end and therefore missed her chance for the podium.
Bankes took home her second season win and was also able to grow her margin as the World Cup leader to 309 points in total, which is 78 points ahead of Michela Moioli (ITA), who won the small final on Saturday. In third spot we have know Belle Brockhoff and Chloe Trespeuch with the exact same number of points, which is 230.
“I am really happy. It wasn’t my best start, but I knew I had to stay in the right line and then just go on and have fun in the bank turns and have a good race. It was a tight race, so it was fun riding. As we have another race tomorrow, my plan is now to recover and then get back to it tomorrow and hopefully I will have another good day. I mean, that’s the goal for sure,” Bankes said after the race.
Martin Noerl races to second career win
On the men’s side, a German double pack of Martin Noerl and Paul Berg were joined by French young gun Merlin Surget and Austrian Julian Lueftner for the big final.
The 22-year-old Frenchman had the fastest reaction time out of the gate but soon after the very first elements, was joined by Julian Lueftner in leading the pack head-to-head. In the following bank turn, Martin Noerl tried to sneak in front, but was not yet quite successful, while his teammate was sitting in fourth.
Then, at the same kicker, as the double pass happened in the women’s race, Noerl used that same momentum and getting into the next bank turn, he took the inside line, which was a guaranteed pass at that stage. The Austrian, however, would not allow for a single leader of the heat, so this time he was head-to-head with the German.
Surget then pumped up some speed from the rollers in the next section of the course and with that speed, he entered into the next turn, choosing the inside line and that’s when he was able to pass the Austrian, whereas Noerl was a bit ahead of the two.
It was really tight racing at that moment, because also Paul Berg came closer to the pack and was about to pass Lueftner on the inside line at the last bank turn before the final jump, but unfortunately, the German slipped and crashed, taking him out for the podium fight in the end.
Martin Noerl crossed the finish line first, taking his second career win after Cervinia in 2018, Merlin Surget grabbed second spot and his first podium this season and Julian Lueftner took his second career podium, while his first was also in 2018.
“It feels amazing! Last time I was on the podium about 3 years ago and now again – just amazing! For sure, tomorrow is another day, but I think with my performance today, I should be qualified for the Olympics now,” a very happy Noerl said.
If we take a look on the World Cup standings, it is still Alessandro Haemmerle leading with 257 points ahead of teammate Jakob Dusek with 190 points, although both athletes did not get into Saturday’s big final. And as for the third place, with today’s win, Martin Noerl won valuable points to shoot up in the ranking into third rank.
Well, now it’s time to take a little rest from all that excitement we witnessed today, because tomorrow another action-packed racing day awaits us here in beautiful Siberia. And the temperature is expected to rise a bit, so maybe no frozen eyel ashes tomorrow. Fingers crossed, people!
We are heading into pre-heat qualification mode on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. LOC, which you can follow via live timing on our website or via FIS App.
And finals are slated to go down at 12:00 LOC/ 6:00 CET.
WATCH LIVE (subject to change):
Sunday, Jan 9 at 12:00 LOC/ 6:00 CET:
ORF Sport+ (Austria), CT Sport (Czech Republic), V Sport + (Norway), Ziggo Docu (The Netherlands), Polsat Sport Extra (Poland), Joj TV (Slovakia), Teledeporte (Spain), Arena 4 (Hungary)
FIS Snowboard Youtube Channel (geo-restricted; check countries where livestream will be available HERE), Eurosport Player (Europe), CT Sport Web (Czech Republic), Viaplay (Denmark), skiandsnowboard.live (USA), CBC Sports Streaming (Canada), L’Equipe Web (France)
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