Ulbling and Baumeister on top in thrilling Carezza PGS

The second FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup parallel giant slalom competition of the season took place on Thursday with Daniela Ulbling (AUT) and Stefan Baumeister (GER) taking impressive victories in first of back-to-back events scheduled for this week in the Italian Dolomites.

The 11th edition of the World Cup event on “Pra di Tori” slope went down in style, with the world’s best carvers pushing it to the limit all day long, especially during the afternoon’s finals. Similarly to last year, also this season the conditions in Carezza were perfect, with blue skies and firm snow allowing the riders to deliver their best throughout the competition.

In the women’s event it was Austria’s own Daniela Ulbling, who raced to her career’s third, and also her very first PGS World Cup victory. Coming off of very satisfying results in the opening weekend in Bannoye, where she finished in 5th and 7th place, Ulbling was unstoppable on Thursday in Carezza, besting the likes of Milena Bykova (RUS), Julia Dujmovits (AUT), and Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) on her way to the big final.

Once there, Ulbling looked very confident despite racing against the two-sport super-athlete Esther Ledecka (CZE), who was competing in her first snowboard alpine race since last year’s Cortina d’Ampezzo event. Despite dominating early stages of the competition in Carezza, Ledecka didn’t have much luck in the big final, going down early in the upper part of the course. Ulbling took full advantage of Ledecka’s mistake and cruised down to cross the finish line with an easy win.