2020/21 FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup season preview
Jan 16, 2021·Snowboard Cross
Finally, after quite the wait, the time has come to pack up those snowboards and get on the road again! With winter here, training sessions in the books, and a huge anticipation for the upcoming races, SBX athletes are ready for the show to begin, and so are we!
The FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup season 2020/21 will start off with a little delay than originally anticipated, due to big challenges faced by the organizing committees in context with the ongoing pandemic and national rules and regulations implemented by the respective governments.
Nevertheless, FIS, together with its various stakeholders and partners did put their best efforts in finding alternative venues and making races possible this season.
Snowboard Cross action will kick-off in the Italian resort of Chiesea in Valmalenco with a pair of races on the weekend of January 23-24, 2021.
Interestingly enough, the venue has not been hosting the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup since March 2012, so it is great to see Valmalenco back on the calendar this season.
As it stands now, the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup is slated to finish off in Veysonnaz (SUI) on March 20, where once again both Cross disciplines will have their grand finale and crown their respective overall crystal globe winners.
However, we still remain hopeful that we will be able to reschedule the postponed SBX competitions from Cervinia (ITA) sometime in mid-March, so stay tuned for more info on that.
Quick roundup of what happened last season
Last season, the highly anticipated opening competition in Montafon (AUT) got fans what they were waiting for – the 2018/19 crystal globe winner Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT) won on home soil once again, causing the crowd to go absolutely wild. What followed was a tight battle for the first spot at the World Cup standings throughout the whole season with Italian athlete Lorenzo Sommariva, who also managed to win at home soil in Cervinia (ITA).
This fight lasted until the very final race of the season, which Haemmerle won literally in the final heat of the season – it doesn’t get any closer than that. This way, the Austrian took home his second SBX overall crystal globe.
A new venue on the World Cup tour was introduced in Big White, Canada, where Belle Brockhoff (AUS) managed to get back on top of the podium after some hard years of knee recovery, of all things exactly on Australia Day. Whoever was in Big White before knows that the resort welcomes a ton of Australian tourists every winter, so Brockhoff couldn’t have asked for a greater day to celebrate her win after this long wait.
The most constant achievements of the season on the women’s side went once again to Michela Moioli (ITA). The Italian managed to get onto the podium at every single race, taking home only first and second places. This, of course, paid off at the end of the season, where she did not only win the big final of the day, but also the overall SBX crystal globe for the third time in her career.
An outstanding achievement was reached also by youngster Eliot Grondin from Canada, who jumped onto second place at his home race in Big White (CAN). The 19-year-old caused the crowd to go absolutely wild and even he probably couldn’t quite believe it, but it was the Canadian’s maiden podium and he couldn’t have asked for a better venue to win at.
While the circuit will see the majority of its best athletes in the gates again this season (check below in our “ones to watch” section), familiar faces said “goodbye” to the Snowboard Cross World Cup and will for sure be missed. FIS would like to say “thank you” for their great performances over the years and wish them the best of luck for their future!
2014 Sochi and 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Champion, 2017 Sierra Nevada World Champion, 6-time SBX Crystal Globe winner Pierre Vaultier (FRA)
2011 La Molina and 2015 Kreischberg World Championships silver medalist
Nelly Moenne-Loccoz (FRA)Konstantin Schad (GER)
Christopher Robanske (CAN)
Baptiste Brochu (CAN)
Who to watch – WOMEN (click for FIS profile):
Michela Moioli (ITA) – the reigning Olympic Champion in snowboard cross is also a three-time and most recent (2019/20) SBX World Cup crystal globe winner, who in general has never finished lower than third rank on the SBX standings, except for the injury-shortened 2013/14 season. Add three World Championships bronze medals to this portfolio and you have another highly successful athlete who is for sure to be in the podium mix on a regular basis again this season.
Moioli also won the silver medal at the Utah 2019 Freestyle Ski, Snowboard & Freeski World Championships mixed team event together with teammate Omar Visintin.
Eva Samkova (CZE) – the Utah 2019 SBX World Championship gold medal and the 2018/19 SBX crystal globe are only the recent achievements of this exceptional Czech rider’s star career. Add a gold medal from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and a bronze medal from the PyeongChang 2018 race, and it’s tough to deny that Eva Samkova is one of the greatest athletes in the sport’s history. And if you’re trying to spot her out on the course, just look for the trademark moustache that will be painted onto her face - “for luck and just for fun,” according to Samkova.
Chloe Trespeuch (FRA) – Sochi 2014 OWG Bronze medallist, 2017 Sierra Nevada World Championships silver medallist and third in the overall World Cup standings of 2019/20, the 26-year-old French counts as a highly successful snowboard cross athlete. Add 21 podiums, of which 3 were victories in an overall of 58 World Cup starts, that is quite the statistic. Trespeuch is entering her 13th FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup season, of which she never finished out of the top-5 within the last six seasons.
Not to be overlooked: Belle Brockhoff (AUS), Lindsay Jacobellis (USA), Charlotte Bankes (GBR), Faye Gulini (USA), Sofia Belingheri (ITA)
Who to watch – MEN (click for FIS profile):
Alessandro Haemmerle (AUT) – After hugely successful 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, it is no wonder that at the World Cup finals in Veysonnaz the Austrian walked home with the second crystal globe of his career. Although never having won an Olympic or World Championship medal, Haemmerle is one of the most consistent riders to hit the World Cup podium in recent seasons. Out of 65 World Cup starts, he managed to get on the podium 19 times, with nine victories in those 19 podiums. He will for sure try to maintain his excellent results and try to claim the overall globe hat-trick.
Lucas Eguibar (ESP) – the silver medalist of the Sierra Nevada 2017 World Championships is an athlete to also keep an eye on. He also managed to reach the big final at the Solitude 2019 World Champs, but unfortunately crashed, which took the chance for a medal in the end. The 26-year-old has a total of 12 podiums of which there were four wins at 54 World Cup starts. The Spanish athlete finished fourth in the SBX overall ranking last season. For sure, he is never to be overlooked at World Championships, so we can’t wait to see how he will perform this year.
Omar Visintin (ITA) – The SBX crystal globe winner of 2014/15, who finished third in the overall rankings last year, Visintin will be entering his 13th World Cup season in 2020/21. His resume until now is 15 podiums with five wins in 68 World Cup starts. Also, last season marks his eigth-straight finishing in the top-10 overall. Together with his female team mate Michaela Moioli, Visintin won the 2019 Solitude World Championship silver medal in the mixed team event.
Not to be overlooked: Mick Dierdorff (USA) – Solitude 2019 World Champion**,** Lorenzo Sommariva (ITA), Jakob Dusek (AUS), Emanuel Perathoner (ITA)
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