WEST Vancouver native Maëlle Ricker raced to her first World Cup snowboard cross podium finish of the 2012-13 season Friday, claiming silver in Telluride, Colo.
Ricker was the second half of a 1-2 finish for Canada as her teammate Dominique Maltais won gold in the race. Maltais led the way in both the semifinal and final with Ricker, the 2010 Olympic gold medalist, riding on her tail.
"In the semi I rode with Dom so I just followed her down," said Ricker in a Canada Snowboard release. "In the final we had fresh snow on the course, it was fast and tricky. I just couldn't reel her in, she was too fast."
The silver showing was a big improvement over Ricker's debut performance of the season, a 13th-place finish in Montafon, Austria Dec. 7.
"In Austria I was out in the first round, the first time I've done that in five or six years," she said. "I was glad to turn it around this week, pulled up my socks."
One day later Ricker and Maltais joined forces to win gold for Canada in a World Cup team race, also held at Telluride. The dominant duo topped Switzerland, Italy and France in the final.
