Local hero Cameron Naasz won the Riders Cup premiere race in Afton Alps, setting the stage for the Red Bull Crashed Ice season opener in Saint Paul.
American Naasz will go down in history as the first winner of a Riders Cup race in the sport of ice cross downhill. The 25-year-old from St Cloud, MN, triumphed in the final against a trio of Canadians – Dean and Dylan Moriarity as well as Kyle Croxall in the first race of the season. The Riders Cup is a newly-created feature of Red Bull Crashed Ice – the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship and is designed to make the world's fastest sport on skates accessible to even more athletes in more countries.
An event "organsied by riders for riders" and with world championship points up for grabs, the world's best ice cross downhill athletes were invited to the natural ice trace carved into a slope at the Afton Alps ski resort by American Reed Whiting, who took sixth place overall in the 2014 world championship. More than 100 athletes – and three former world champions - from North America and Europe were able to train and race for nearly a week before Sunday's debut event near Hastings, Minnesota, on the spectacular ice track that was just over 300 metres long. In the pre-race time trials, American Andrew Bergeson and Whiting, racing expertly down his home track, posted top times, but in a highly competitive field both were knocked out in earlier rounds.
Naasz carved his name in the record books with his victory in the first Riders Cup final, beating the Canadian "speed twins" Dean (2nd) and Dylan Moriarity (3rd) with 2012 world champion Kyle Croxall taking fourth. Naasz said the Riders Cup win will only make him even hungrier to win this week's race in Saint Paul after he was third there last year: "It's a race I really want to win and there are going to be tens of thousands of people cheering for me there." Defending world champion Marco Dallago took victory in the consolation race, taking 5th place, but was full of enthuasism about the new Riders Cup: "It's truly amazing what Reed and his team put together here. The organisation was fantastic and the track was just brilliant – sometimes you feel like you're literally flying."
Results men: 1. Cameron Naasz (USA), 2. Dean Moriarity (CAN), 3. Dylan Moriarity (CAN), 4. Kyle Croxall (CAN), 5. Marco Dallago (AUT), 6. Scott Croxall (CAN), 7. Dan Witty (USA), 8. Fabian Mels (GER), 9. Derek Wedge (SUI), 10. Paavo Klintrup (FIN)
Results women: 1. Tamara Kajah (USA), 2. Myriam Trepanier (CAN), Michaele Michaelson (USA)
For the full points and standings, go to redbullcrashedice.com/results