Trespeuch on tenterhooks ahead of SBX season finale
Mar 21, 2024·Snowboard Cross
As Eliot Grondin (CAN) celebrated the first crystal globe of his Snowboard Cross career in Montafon last Saturday evening, Chloe Trespeuch (FRA) briefly felt her grip loosen on what has long seemed certain to become her own.
Knocked off the top spot in the women’s standings for the first time this season, the French rider corrected the blip 24 hours later with her third win of an incredible FIS World Cup campaign.
Trespeuch now awaits the season finale in Canada this weekend with her destiny back in her own hands.
“I really like pressure, it’s why I do Snowboard Cross,” the 29-year-old had said before enduring a rare off-day in Austria. “Competition is what I love – we will see the ranking in the end.”
Hers is a glittering career still missing the golden flourish. Twice she has been runner-up in the race for the women’s crystal globe: last season and in 2018. On two occasions she has finished third (2020 and 2022), and for three years in a row between 2015 and 2017, she came fourth.
Normally the bridesmaid, never before the bride. If ever there was a time for Trespeuch to sit at the top table, it is now.
Five-way fight for the globe
And yet while Grondin has been streets ahead of the rest of the men’s FIS World Cup circuit this season, Trespeuch is being chased all the way to Mt. St. Anne by a group of hungry riders keen to hit her heights.
Michela Moioli (ITA), Charlotte Bankes (GBR), Josie Baff (AUS) and Eva Adamczykova (CZE) have all had their says in this most fascinating of seasons, with Baff fresh from two podium places in Montafon and with the memory of having won in Canada last season.
“I have been super pleased with my riding over the past few weeks,” Baff said during a break in her preparations for Mt. St. Anne. “To repeat a win here would be pretty darn special – I haven’t had a win this season and to win here again would be such a great feeling.
“We had a sneak peak of the course in testing and it looks like it’s going to be quite fun with a technical start section and a big finish straight.”
While Baff may have the form and Trespeuch the overall lead, in Montafon on Saturday evening it was Moioli looking down on the rest after she recorded her second win of the season.
“It was unexpected to get back in the yellow bib,” Moioli said. “We will fight until the end and we will see what will happen for the globe.”
Trespeuch turns tables
Moioli’s time at the top lasted only 24 hours. As the Italian floundered in the second of two races in Austria, Trespeuch rebounded with her third win of the season to turn a two-point deficit into a 78-point lead ahead of the final weekend.
A further 27 points back from Moioli in third place overall lies Bankes, who endured a torrid first half of the season before winning in Gudauri in race number five. The Brit has competed impressively since then but may have left it too late to claim a third straight crystal globe.
Baff and Adamczykova complete the picture but for either to steal the globe at the last, they must realistically win both races in Canada and hope their rivals all flop.
“I have been proud of my consistency over the season,” Baff, 21, said. “Since Sierra Nevada (where she finished second on 3 March) I feel like I have flipped a switch with my riding and I’m hoping that will continue into this weekend.”
Grondin home and hosed
With the lights already on and the room cleared after his champagne celebration last Saturday, Eliot Grondin can enjoy a two-day homecoming parade in Mt. St. Anne, where he won one race and finished third in the other last year.
“It’s exciting being able to say that I secured the globe but there’s still a job to do this weekend,” Grondin said.
The 22-year-old Canadian missed the podium for the first time this season in Montafon, finishing eighth and picking up a minor niggle which kept him out of the second race on Sunday.
“I got a small ankle injury,” he said. “I went through all the tests in the last few days and I got the green light to compete.
“I would really like to show why I’m the one who has won the globe and finish strong at home. I think I had really good consistency all winter, and I worked really hard all summer, so I was expecting this kind of season to some extent.”
Grondin has five wins, two runners-up spots, and one third place in his nine FIS World Cup races to date this season. For the other Canadian riders hoping to make a mark on home snow in Mt. St. Anne, that form has been an inspiration.
“Eliot winning the crystal globe this year will hopefully inspire the next generation to want to compete on the national team and race for our country,” Liam Moffatt (CAN) said.
“There’s going to be a lot of young kids at this race watching and I’m sure it will be really inspiring for them. Eliot is more dominant than anyone has ever been, in my opinion, and he is showing what he is really capable of.”
Back-to-back wins for Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT) on home snow in Austria trimmed Grondin’s margin at the top of the standings to 204 points.
More relevant now, however, is the gap from Haemmerle in second to Cameron Bolton (AUS) in third, which ballooned to 156 points after the Australian came ninth and 10th last time out.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
The action in Mt. St. Anne begins with qualification runs on Friday with the men’s and women’s races slated for 17:00 CET (12:00 local) on both Saturday and Sunday.
WHERE TO WATCH
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