Saturday of Stunners in Snowboard Alpine at Yanqing

Dec 07, 2024·Snowboard Alpine

Saturday’s PGS races of the 2024-25 VISA FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup provided plenty of surprising results amidst the windy conditions in Yanqing, China.

Lucia Dalmasso (ITA) stunned the field with her first win of the season. On the men’s side, there were crashes galore as Tim Mastnak (SLO) found himself in the glory spot.

Mastnak survives spills to summit podium

The day ended in joy, but Mastnak was not sure he made the final until a judge’s decision pushed him through.

After cruising to a win in the quarterfinals after Oskar Kwiatkowski (POL) suffered a DNF, Mastnak was facing gritty Mirko Felicetti (ITA) in the semifinals.

Coming down the stretch, Felicetti missed a gate after a rough turn and gave up. Mastnak had the win in sight before he also stumbled and missed the final gate. Mastnak crossed the finish line first despite not completing the course. Felicetti then detached from his board and walked up the hill to complete the final gates hoping finishing the course would give him the win.

The two awaited the judge’s decision to see who would progress, both politicking for their own cause. Mastnak was awarded the victory after a short delay and was moved on to the final.

There, Mastnak faced the red-hot Maurizio Bormolini (ITA). Mastnak got a little luck again as Bormolini came in too hot and missed a late gate to DNF. The win ended a long drought for the Slovenian rider. He may be a long way from home, but the Chinese slopes treat him well.

“I love China man. It is so good to snowboard here. My last victory in the World Cup was in 2019 in China at Secret Garden. It feels so good to be back on top,” – Mastnak said.

Tim Mastnak (SLO) celebrates victory in Yanqing. @Miha Matavz/FIS

Mastnak’s last World Cup victory was in fact in February 2019 when the tour stopped in Secret Garden, China as the venue was included on the schedule in preparation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. This Saturday’s win at another Beijing 2022 venue in Yanqing was his fourth career World Cup victory and tenth podium.

“Today was a pretty hard race,” Mastnak said. “I made some mistakes in qualifying and then improved run to run in the finals. I had a good first run then made some mistakes, but I was fighting. I had a really bad crash against Mirko (Felicetti) but, I didn’t give up. I believed I could win.”

Bormolini settled for second after winning the previous PSL race last weekend. It was another solid performance from the Italian and his 12^th career individual World Cup podium. He holds his spot atop the overall standings.

His teammate Felicetti won the small final to round out the podium. The 32-year-old was ecstatic after the win, collapsing after the finish line, kissing the snow in celebration. It was his 11^th career World Cup podium and second since 2023.

Andreas Prommegger (AUT) finished fourth. Lee Sangho (KOR) posted the fastest qualifying time but suffered a rough tumble in the quarterfinals to finish fifth. Defending overall champion Benjamin Karl (AUT) was disqualified during qualifications.

Men’s PGS Standings after race 2

Edwin Coratti (ITA) – 115 points
Tim Mastnak (SLO) – 110 points
Sangkyum Kim (KOR) – 109 points
Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) – 106 points
Sangho Lee (KOR) – 105 points

Lucia Dalmasso (ITA) slides past the competition

Dalmasso put her opening week struggles in the rearview after a DNF and ninth-place finish. The Italian bounced back to show her true potential with the victory in the PGS race at Yanqing. It was just the second individual World Cup win for the 27-year-old.

Dalmasso was ecstatic after the victory, conjuring up few words immediately after the race as the joy took over.

“The slope is very cool, and I am very happy,” Dalmasso said. “The snow was really good. I am feeling better than the last races. I had a lot of fun.”

It was a loaded women’s field as the favourites all advanced to the quarterfinals. Dalmasso knocked out the fastest qualifier Tsubaki Miki (JPN) in the semifinals in a photo finish. Miki went on to win the small final to continue her podium streak, making it three-for-three so far this season. She moves into second in the overall standings as she searches for her first win of the season.

Dalmasso later beat Sabine Payer (AUT) in a thrilling big final. Payer had a solid day in second, knocking out Julie Zogg (SUI) in the semifinals along the way. Payer now leads the season’s overall standings.

Defending overall champion Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) finished fifth. The German champion lost in the quarterfinals by Gloria Kotnik (SLO) on Saturday in another shocking result finishing fifth. Kotnik took fourth on the day.

Women’s PGS standings after race 2

Lucia Dalmasso (ITA) – 129 points
Sabine Payer (AUT) – 125 points
Tsubaki Miki (JPN) – 120 points
Aleksandra Krol-Walas (POL) – 106 points
Ester Ledecka (CZE) – 100 points

Lucia Dalmasso races down the hill. @Miha Matavz/FIS

The men and women will return to the slopes in Yanqing on Sunday for a PSL race. The event will begin with qualifications at 9:30 local/2:30 CET followed by the knockout final rounds, set to begin at 13:30 local time/6:30 CET. Start lists can be found here.

QUICK LINKS:

Full Men’s Overall Standings

Full Women’s Overall Standings