TWO North Shore boarders helped Canada to a gold-medal sweep in the final team snowboard cross World Cup event of the season held Sunday in Veysonnaz, Switzerland.
North Vancouver resident Chris Robanske teamed up with Rob Fagan of Squamish to win on the men's side while West Vancouver native and World and Olympic champion Maëlle Ricker formed a powerhouse partnership with longtime teammate Dominique Maltais of Petite-Rivière-St-Françis, Que. to win the women's event. Team snowboard cross is a relay event that sees one set of racers complete the course first with another set back at the top ready to go once their teammate crosses the line below.
In the women's final Ricker took the first leg of the tandem race, keeping Canada out of trouble by avoiding a crash that wiped out teams from the United States and France. Ricker then handed over to Maltais who battled Italy's Raffaella Brutto in the second leg, finally overtaking her in the final seconds of the race. Brutto and her teammate Michela Moioli earned silver while the U.S. team took third.
"I think Maëlle and I did a great job," said Maltais in a release. "Maëlle was riding really well and really strong today. It was really fun and we are really happy to have finished first especially with the guys. With those two wins it's been a great day for us."
The men's final had a lot of drama as well with Robanske taking the first leg of the race and again keeping Canada out of trouble. Robanske slid past a crash that took out two teams near the end of his run, handing off to Fagan who outduelled American Nate Holland in a battle to the bottom. Holland and teammate Nick Baumgartner finished second while another U.S. team, made up of double Olympic champion Seth Westcott along with Jonathan Cheever, won bronze.
The World Cup campaign continues with solo races today and tomorrow in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
