Dallago first past the Finnish line

Austria's jet-heeled skater Marco Dallago won his first Red Bull Crashed Ice race on Saturday night in the opening event of 2014 on a permanent ice cross downhill track in freezing-cold Finland.

In a four-man final featuring the Austrian, Canadian Scott Croxall, Germany's Fabian Mels and a first final appearance for French skater Pacome Schmitt, Dallago left the rest trailing from the start and flew to the finish on one of the quickest courses the sport has seen.

The 290-metre-long permanent track, with a 45-metre-vertical drop, at the Serena Ski Resort, in Espoo, hosted another action-filled evening of high-speed racing, as Dallago sped to the win ahead of Mels, in second, and Schmitt, in third. Finnish rookie Toni Heikkila got as far as the semi-finals before finishing sixth, but 2013 champion Derek Wedge lost out in the Round of 32 following a disqualification.

For the full breakdown of results, visit redbullcrashedice.com/results

"I like this track, it was bumpy and challenging and I think I've become an expert on difficult tracks like this," said Dallago, who sprinted away from the pack with a furious start. The fleet-footed Dallago, who came to Red Bull Crashed Ice as an unheralded walk-on just last year but trained hard throughout the summer, opened up an astonishing three-metre lead by the midway point of the final, leaving Mels, Schmitt and Canada's Scott Croxall behind to fight it out out for second. Mels prevailed after Croxall crashed in the final corner with Schmitt getting the first-ever podium for France.

It was a disappointing night for last year's top three. Defending champion Derek Wedge and 2012 champion Kyle Croxall were both eliminated in the quarter finals while American Cameron Naasz, who took third last year, was knocked out in a hard-fought semi-final battle. It was a mixed night for host country Finland. A record-breaking 11 Finns made it to the 64-man finals but only two made it to the round of 32 and local heroes such as Paavo Klintrup got knocked out early but newcomer Toni Heikkila made it all the way to the semi-finals in his first race.

Saint Paul, USA, hosts the next stop of the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship on February 20-22.