Back-to-back win for Naeslund and Howden well-deserved back on top

With the sun coming out right before the second FIS Ski Cross World Cup race on Thursday, 22 December started, Innichen/ San Candido showed itself once again from the best way possible. Infront of a picturesque landsacpe Sandra Naeslund and Reece Howden were dominating every single of their runs today and so won the last race before Christmas here in South Tyrol.

Naeslund unbeaten for over a year

The big final women in Thursday’s FIS Ski Cross World Cup looked like the following. In red we saw Qualification and previous day winner Sandra Naeslund (SWE), in green Fanny Smith (SUI), in blue Sonja Gigler (AUT) and in yellow Andrea Limbacher (AUT).

Guess who was the fastest women today out of the start gate? Right, it was again Swede Naeslund followed by Smith in second position and the two Austrians side-by-side skiing into the first turn after the start section. The experienced Limbacher who was on the inside line next to her younger teammate, had to slow down to avoid a crash with Gigler and so fall back on fourth position.

While Limbacher was trying to catch up again with her competitors, Gigler was following Smith along the course. After intermediate two, the women were so far apart that it looked like the ranking of the four athletes was already set. But it wouldn`t be Ski Cross if the ranking couldn’t change also on the very last meter.

Naeslund who was already over a second in front of her persecutors at the second intermediate, was skiing her own race without noticing what is going on behind her. At one of the key elements on this course, the penultima turn, Smith made a big mistake, which had the consequence that she was skiing far away from the ideal line and came back last second to pass the next gate correctly. The young Austrian who had so much speed coming out of the penultima turn, got surprised by the suddenly super slow Smith which leaded to a crash between Smith and Gigler right after the roller section and before the finish strait. Limbacher now was the lucky fourth who got second in the end because of the mistake of the two other skiers.

After rewatching the scene, it was clear that Smith and Gigler both skied through the same gate right before the crash and so both got ranked third in the End.

Sandra Naeslund stays unbeaten since over a year and takes home her 13th win in a row today.