Canada's Dean Moriarity mastered difficult conditions caused by a heavy snowstorm in the French Alps to get the first victory of his Ice Cross Downhill career after coming close so often with three podiums in the last six races.
At the second Riders Cup event of the season, American Cameron Naasz extended his strong run and widened his lead at the top of the overall championship standings with second place in the French ski resort of Avoriaz after he won the first two Red Bull Crashed Ice races of the season. And France's Tristan Dugerdil, also enjoying the fruits of heavy training in the off-season, once again put in a top performance with third place - to the delight of the thousands of spectators watching the world's fastest sport on skates.
Dean Moriarity claimed his first Ice Cross Downhill victory ahead of Cameron Naasz and Tristan Dugerdil. Photo: Pierre Albouy/Red Bull Content Pool.
"The people here did a great job, they really created a unique track," said Moriarity, who like Naasz had trained extremely hard in the off-season. "There were some difficult corners but the combination of really steep corners was sensational." His best result before the Avoriaz race was second place in Quebec City in November and second place in Saint Paul last year. It was a difficult race for defending champion Scott Croxall of Canada, who ended up in ninth place and lost ground on Naasz in the hunt for the 2015/16 championship title.
The heavy snowstorm that reduced visibility on the bump- and obstacle-filled natural ice track threatened to cancel the race repeatedly at the 1,800-meter high track in the winter sports resort.
In the women's race, last week's winner, Jacqueline Legere of Canada, prevailed once again after she had won the Red Bull Crashed Ice race in Munich a week ago. Canada's Tamara Kajah was second and Elaine Topolnisky took third.
Jacqueline Legere made it two wins in a row with victory in Avoriaz. Photo: Pierre Albouy/Red Bull Content Pool.
The tour made up of athletes from more than 20 countries now moves onto Finland for a Riders Cup race in Rautalampi next weekend, where riders are battling for a maximum of 250 championship points for first place, ahead of the third Red Bull Crashed Ice race of the season in Jyväskylä-Laajis on January 30, where the winner collects 1,000 points.
Results, Men: 1. Dean Moriarity (CAN), 2. Cameron Naasz (USA), 3. Tristan Dugerdil (FRA), 4. Paavo Klintrup (FIN), 5. Jim Depaoli (SUI), 6. Richard van Wijhe (SWE), 7. Guillaume Bouvet-Morrisette (CAN), 8. Bruno Richard (CAN), 9. Scott Croxall (CAN), 10. Luca Dallago (AUT);
Results, Women: 1. Jacqueline Legere (CAN); 2. Tamara Kajah (CAN), 3. Elaine Topolnisky (CAN), 4. Alice Zenz (AUT), 5. Sandrine Rangeon (FRA).