Schoeffmann makes it a sweep in Simonhohe
Jan 28, 2024·Alpine Snowboard
There is no place like home. Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT) enjoyed her time on home snow this weekend as she swept the races in Simonhohe, Austria. On Sunday, Schoeffmann backed up her PGS title from Saturday by leading Team Austria to the top of the podium in the mixed team PGS event.
Schoeffmann and Andreas Prommegger (AUT) teamed up to win their second mixed team race of the season. The first also came in Austria at Bad Gastein earlier this month. The pair take a commanding lead for the parallel mixed globe with just two team races remaining.
The taste of victory is sweet, but for Schoeffmann these two wins mean a bit more.
“Amazing, I can’t believe it. It was such a tough three weeks and now we earned this. I don’t know, I mean what can you say?” Schoeffmann said with a laugh.
“I think the whole week and the last three weeks were amazing, but this was the top of the top. Winning at home, winning in front of family and friends, I am so grateful and thankful to everyone who makes this race possible.”
It is Schoeffmann’s eighth podium this season when combined with her individual results. The win also gives her teammate Prommegger five podiums on the season.
“For me it is such an honor to ride with Sabine. She is showing such a great performance from race to race. The final run was amazing, I crashed into the starting gate and had to make up for the little mistake. And then Sabine made an advantage from the disadvantage,” Prommegger said.
The duo cruised to the win in the big final against the Swiss team of Dario Caviezel (SUI) and Ladina Jenny (SUI). It is the first time either racer has reached the podium this season.
It was also the first time this year the two partnered up for a team event. Although the two are already partners off the slopes as the couple got engaged last summer. The chemistry paid off on the slope as well.
“It’s the first time we raced together in a team event so that was crazy news yesterday. We were really hyped to ride together and now the podium is even greater,” Ladina said.
Caviezel was also thrilled to be racing along with his life partner.
“It was great to get through more than just two runs. We have not had the best season so far. So we are supper happy to be on the podium again. We had some great runs today,” Caviezel said.
Rounding out the podium was a familiar name. Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) led Team Germany to third place. It is her second time leading Germany to a bronze finish in a team event this season. It is also her eighth podium of the season.
Hofmeister and her teammate Elias Huber (GER) worked well together for a strong finish. Hofmeister previously partnered with Stefan Baumeister (GER) in the first mixed team race this year.
Hofmeister earned some redemption after an extremely disappointing individual race on Saturday. The German was disqualified for a mistake in qualifying and failed to advance to the knockout rounds.
“I was quite disappointed about my performance yesterday. I am really happy to be on the podium. The slope was perfect. It was so much fun, everything was great,” Hofmeister said.
Elias Huber was happy to let Hofmeister do the heavy lifting.
“It was quite difficult for me today. I was a little bit tired. But I knew Ramona would have a good performance and she did well. She made up for all my mistakes,” Huber said.
With the cancellation of the races in Canada next month, there are now two mixed team events remaining this season. The tour will end with two mixed team parallel races in Germany in March.
Mixed Team Parallel Standings after race 2 of 4:
Andreas Prommegger / Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT) – 200 points
Daniele Bagozza / Lucia Dalmasso (ITA) – 109 points
Maurizio Bormolini / Elisa Caffont (ITA) – 100 points
Dario Caviezel / Ladina Jenny (SUI) – 80 points
Jasmin Coratti / Edwin Coratti (ITA) – 76 points
Elsewhere on the mountain
Benjamin Karl (AUT) partnered with Daniela Ulbing (AUT) for the second Austrian team on Sunday. They raced well but fell in the quarterfinals to the top Swiss team.
It was not all bad for Karl in Simonhohe. He finished second in the individual race on Saturday. With the podium, he clinched the PGS crystal globe with two races to spare.
Karl has podiumed in all five PGS races this season, including three wins. However, the Austrian is not satisfied with just one globe.
“It’s not normal. You need a really good season to clinch with two races left in the GS season. I hit every GS podium and three of them I won, it is a perfect season. But I am not here for the small globe of GS, I am here for the big globe, the overall. So the focus is on that,” Karl said.
Karl holds a 127-point lead in the overall standings with four races left. He leads a trio of Italian contenders who are all within 100 points.
QUICK LINKS
2023/24 FIS Alpine Snowboard World Cup calendar
2023/24 Women’s overall standings
