Mobaerg makes his move with win in Reiteralm but Howden back on top

Erik Mobaerg (SWE) was the big mover but Reece Howden (CAN) was the big winner as FIS Ski Cross World Cup returned to race action in Reiteralm, Austria on Saturday.

It was a second victory of the season for the Swede, while double Crystal Globe winner Howden finished fourth to stretch his lead in the standings to 44 points over Alex Fiva (SUI), who failed to make it through after the first round of heats.

Mobaerg is just a further point back after qualifying from quarter-final one at the expense of younger brother David – who he also leapfrogged in the standings.

Mobaerg pulls out ‘the scrub’ for second win

There were clear blue skies in the Austrian Alps but heavy overnight snow in Reiteralm made for soft underfoot conditions, meaning organisers couldn’t be certain the women could generate enough speed to complete their jumps safely, leaving the men to take centre stage.

“I’m ready for it,” said Youri Duplessis Kergomard (FRA), after the Frenchman set the fastest time in Thursday’s qualifying run. He continued to look impressive on Saturday but missed out on the Big Final following a crash in the semi-final after missing a gate.

Other early casualties included Jared Schmidt (CAN), who was fifth in the standings going into Saturday, Simone Deromedis (ITA), a winner last time out in Bakuriani, Georgia, and second-fastest qualifier Mathias Graf (AUT), who failed to start his heat.

With an official warning against his name going into the Big Final, Howden was never likely to push too hard knowing he was already assured of leading the World Cup standings, so it was left to Mobaerg to put it all out there, courtesy of his special move, ‘the scrub’.

Taking the unusual decision to take the starting gate furthest to the left as you look at them, Mobaerg pumped hard over the opening double, enabling him to go wide into the first corner, then turn sharply into the left-hander. “It was intuition,” the 26-year-old said of the decision. “We don’t use the move that much but when need to get over at the first corner you can get down lower – and today it seemed to be pretty fast.”

After that, Mobaerg’s second win of the season – and career – was never in doubt.

And the plan for Sunday’s race? “Just do the same. We’ll see if the course is a little bit faster tomorrow and maybe change a little bit; otherwise, it’s the same plan.”

Jonas Lenherr (SUI) secured his second podium of the season in second, despite losing balance on the final jump as he pushed for the win. “I feel great, it was fun,” he said. “We learnt at the inspection that the course wasn’t looking good but they worked hard on the piste so the race was ok.”

The 34-year-old has good memories of this venue, where he won last season, so is confident going into tomorrow’s race. “I’ll try to do the same as today or maybe even a little bit better, then I’ll be happy,” he said.

Melvin Tchiknavorian (FRA) finished third ahead of Howden, despite a coming-together between the two. “Crazy,” the Frenchman said of his first career podium.

“It’s been a dream for a long time and now it’s come true. I like the course, so very happy to be on the podium as well.”

“We knew it was not a very clean track [after the heavy snowfall] so we knew it wasn’t a race early on, it was a fight, and you’ve got to fight until the finish line. I did that great today, so I’m very happy.”