American Cameron Naasz is looking to extend his lead at the Red Bull Crashed Ice race on a frosty-cold natural ice track in frigid Finland on Jan 29/30 that kicks off the second half of the season of the world's fastest sport on skates. A pack of Europeans will be going all out to stop Naasz and the dominant North Americans.
The finish line in Finland is always a special place in the sport of ice cross downhill, because Finnish athletes are among the fastest finishers in the world's fastest sport on skates. Flying Finns such as Miikka Jouhkimainen, Arttu Pihlainen and Salla Kyhälä have finished first a total of 12 times since 2008. Yet the finish line at this year's Red Bull Crashed Ice race in the Finnish city of Jyväskylä will be an extra special place for the world's best Ice Cross Downhill racers as it will mark the merciful end of the longest and most grueling racetrack of the season – 630 meters and a 66-meter vertical drop.
A punishing 630m track will test athletes to their limits in Jyväskylä-Laajis.
American Cameron Naasz will be looking to hold onto his lead in the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship and score his third straight Red Bull Crashed Ice victory of the season - and fourth in a row going back to the end of last season - in the frozen-cold Finnish college town that lies about 270 km north of Helsinki, where temperatures are expected to be some 15 degrees below zero. It is so reliably cold in Jyväskylä-Laajis that the monstrously long track, with its 17 turns and other obstacles, is the only natural Red Bull Crashed Ice track of the season after Naasz won the first two stops of the season on synthetic ice in Quebec City and Munich.
"You need consistency and to stay focused because everyone at the top in the race this year is so good," said Naasz, who leads the world championship standings with 2,200 points after taking second place in a Riders Cup race in Avoriaz, France on Saturday behind Canada's Dean Moriarity, who is now second overall with 1,540 points, with defending champion Scott Croxall of Canada, who was only ninth in Avoriaz, in third place overall with 1,485 points. Croxall got the first Red Bull Crashed Ice win of his career in Helsinki last season, a victory that "broke the ice" after 13 winless finals before that and triggered a three-race winning streak with a victory in the Riders Cup race here in Jyväskylä-Laajis last season and a win in Belfast to pave the way for his first championship.
Cameron Naasz will be looking to freeze out his rivals and pull further away at the top of the standings. Photo: Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool.
Super fit Naasz, who trained extremely hard throughout the off season, said he is looking forward to another battle royal through the second half of the season against Moriarity and Croxall, who is his teammate in the competition on their Living the Dream squad. "We're really getting a healthy rivalry going this season," Naasz said. "We're teammates and good buddies but when we step onto that track there's no one else who wants to win more than me and him. I'm looking forward to many more final races against him this season."
France's Tristan Dugerdil is in fourth place overall after taking third in the Riders Cup in Avoriaz and leads a pack of European athletes – Luca Dallago of Austria (5th overall) as well as Swiss racers Kilian Braun (6th) and Jim De Paoli (8th) hoping to prevent the North Americans from sweeping the podium again this season.
Flying Finn, Miikka Jouhkimainen, is hoping to make the podium on home soil. Photo: Daniel Grund/Red Bull Content Pool.
Ice Cross Downhill is a tactical, physical and high-speed sport with four riders at a time zooming down the obstacle-filled track with a vertical drop – with the two fastest advancing to the next round. This will be third Red Bull Crashed Ice race in Jyväskylä-Laajis.
The action-packed team event will open the weekend racing on the Friday evening. Six of the world's best ice cross downhill athletes battle against each other down the ice track. Bigger than the individual competition and featuring spectacular crashes with two teams of three racers battling elbow-to-elbow on a narrow and twisting track, the team event not only offers additional racing opportunities but also gives center stage to the top 16 teams.
Ice Cross Downhill World Championship Men's standings: 1. Cameron Naasz (USA) 2,200 points, 2. Dean Moriarity (CAN) 1,540, 3. Scott Croxall (CAN) 1,485 4. Tristan Dugerdil (FRA) 1,160, 5. Luca Dallago (AUT) 1,010, 6. Kilian Braun (SUI) 822.5, 7. Dylan Moriarity (CAN) 700, 8. Jim De Paoli (SUI) 692,5, 9. Kyle Croxall (CAN) 600, 10. Coleton Haywood (CAN) 580.
Ice Cross Downhill World Championship Women's standings: 1. Myriam Trepanier (CAN) 1,800 points, 2. Jacqueline Legere (CAN) 1,450, 3. Maxie Plante (CAN) 1,160 4. Elaine Topolnisky (CAN) 1,100, 5. Sydney O'Keefe (USA) 920
Ice Cross Downhill World Championship teams' standings: 1. Team UNRL 1,800 points, 2. Living the Dream 1,600, 3. Ice Crew 1,160, 4. Steal17 1,050, 5. Couch Garden Crew 950 , 6. Alpine Rockets 900, 7. Team Finland 660, 8. Hill Bombers 650, 9. Team Tenson Sweden 580, 10. Globetrotters 540;
WATCH IT LIVE: Red Bull Crashed Ice Jyväskylä-Laajis will broadcast live on redbullcrashedice.com and Red Bull TV at 7:15pm CET on January 30. Red Bull TV is available on connected TVs, gaming consoles, mobile devices and more. For a full list of supported devices, visit about.redbull.tv."