The start of the PWA Grand Slam 2025 on Fuerteventura was as spectacular as Slalom X can be. With wind speeds in excess of 40 knots and the typical Sotavento chop, the first day of competition was a spectacle of superlatives. The notorious conditions of Sotavento showed their toughest side and caused numerous crashes, even among the best.
In the women's classification, 25-year-old Dutchwoman Femke van der Veen caused a surprise. With two heat wins and a second place, she came out on top of the field. Van der Veen, who has only won one run on the World Tour so far, put in an impressive performance in the difficult conditions. She now leads the overall standings with 3.4 points. Defending champion Sarah-Quita Offringa is in second place, 1.3 points behind. SQ won the first race, but had to settle for two second places in the following races. Her early start in the third race was surprising and cost her valuable points.
Reigning runner-up Justine Lemeteyer got off to a solid start and is so far the only rider to have finished in the top three in every elimination, even if she has stumbled in the jibes from time to time. The top five is currently completed by Blanca Alabau, who has one third and two fourth places, and Bobbi-Lynn De Jong, who has yet to finish outside the top five. After a disastrous start in the first three eliminations (11th, 11th, 10th), speed world record holder Jenna Gibson probably wondered why she was even competing here, but the Brit didn't let it get her down and ended the day with a win. The gap is large, of course, but if she can get some momentum going, she might still manage a podium finish, but there's no room for error.
Mortefon dominates the men's competition
In the men's event, Pierre Mortefon was the winner despite his injury woes and Sponsor trouble right at the front. Despite the extreme conditions, in which he said he was clearly overpowered with his 6.0 square metre sail, the Frenchman came out on top of the field. With one win and one second place, Mortefon is tied on points with Maciek Rutkowski at the top of the rankings. Rutkowski, who won the first race, also put in a strong performance. Defending champion Matteo Iachino is in third place, but scored important points in the second race with an impressive comeback from last to third place. After finishing tenth and fourth, Nico Prien is in sixth place in the event standings for the time being.
Jordy Vonk is a further five points behind Iachino with 11 points. The flying Dutchman qualified comfortably for both Winners' Finals, but was unable to compete for victory in either final, so he starts the event with a solid fifth and sixth place. Amado Vrieswijk also took part in both Winners' Finals. The former freestyle world champion started with an excellent fourth place in Elimination 1, but unfortunately both he and Bruno Martini pushed a little too hard in the second Winners' Final and were both disqualified for early starts - they both finished in eighth place.
Outlook for the coming days
Slightly more moderate, but still very challenging conditions are expected for the second day of the competition with wind forces between 19 and 23 knots, which are likely to be even stronger locally.
