An exciting finish to the final Parallel Slalom of the 2000/2001 Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup was held today at Ruka, Finland. With perfect conditions, sunshine and cold temperatures, the final decision for the Parallel World Cup champions was a thriller until the very end.
Last year's Parallel and Overall World Cup champion Mathieu Bozzetto from France had been leading the standings for quite a while but both his teammate Nicolas Huet and Richard Richardsson from Sweden could have taken it away from him in the final race.
The slope was pretty icy during the qualification in the morning and quite a few riders had tremendous problems with it and missed the finals. US rider Christopher J. Klug, Dieter Krassnig from Austria and Mathieu Bozzetto all missed the finals because of the ice. Bozzetto crashed hard and could not pull it together again so it looked as if it was up to Huet and Richardsson to go for it.
When Huet was surprisingly eliminated in the round of 16 men by Germany's Mathias Behounek by 28 hundredths of a second, Bozzetto's name was brought up again since he then had the advantage over Huet who was in tenth position after being knocked out. Richardsson needed to win or finish second at that time and it looked as if he would be able to make it. He probably had the most consistent runs throughout the finals. When he faced Stefan Kaltschuetz in the quarter finals and the Austrian was in the lead after the first run, people started to recalculate, but Richardsson made it up in the second run and advanced to the semi-finals where he met French rider Charlie Cosnier. Winning both runs against the Swede, Cosnier advanced to the final, sent Richardsson to duel for third place and Bozzetto was safe for the title.
Cosnier raced against Alexander Maier and was finally beaten by the Austrian. "I have been moving up slowly but surely," Maier said, "and I really enjoy being in the top so I like to continue like this. When I won my first-ever World Cup in Park City it was my father's birthday and maybe it is a good omen that it was my mother's birthday today..."
Second place finisher Cosnier was happy too. "It has been quite a time that I made it to the podium and I liked to continue racing now but I probably have to wait until next year... During lunch we have been calculating the points and I was aware that Richard needed a win or second place to take the globe so I had to solve this." The Swede was finally also beaten by Harald Walder from Austria and finished fourth.
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Bozzetto was the only one smiling out of the three contenders and for the second time in a row could defend his Parallel World Cup title. "After the qualifications I regarded myself as an idiot and was convinced that I lost it," he said, "but who would have thought that Nico might not go any further than the round of 16, I even counted him for a win. It was bad luck that he dropped out and I was sure Richardsson would do it then since he was very consistent... What a day, I think I need to buy Behounek and especially Charlie a drink - he was the one to keep Nico and me at the top."
A very disappointed Huet and Richardsson ended up second and third in the final standings.
Italy's Carmen Ranigler had taken the World Cup lead from French rider Karine Ruby yesterday and had to finish in first place to keep it. Turned out to be much easier for her than expected. Similar to Nicolas Huet Ruby was knocked out in the round of 16 and when Ranigler made it through to the quarter finals she had already won the chrystal globe. She also won the final race, as if she wanted to prove that she was worth the World Cup title. "I thought I would not believe it when I was told that Ruby dropped out," she said, "and I thought it was nice to make it a nice conclusion then. All the pressure was off me and even during the runs I was always thinking of the globe. It feels just great."
Austria's Maria Kirchgasser-Pichler pulled second ahead of Margherita Parini from Italy and Swiss rider Melina Meisser.
With Ranigler first in the standings Ruby pulled second ahead of US rider Rosey Fletcher.
The Giant Slalom riders who had decided their World Cup in January were also awarded their globes today: Italy's Walter Feichter claimed the mens' title ahead of Stefan Kaltschuetz from Austria and Canadian rider Jasey Jay Anderson. As a little consolation for the lost Parallel title Karine Ruby took the globe in the womens' final GS standings with Marion Posch from Italy in second and US rider Sondra van Ert in third.
The final Halfpipe contest will be held tomorrow.
— Britta Semmler, MountainZone.com Correspondent
