"Did he save the best part of the finish for his YouTube video?" surmised commentator Ben Proffitt as Nico Prien crossed the finish line first in the final heat, cheering. That was it, the first victory in the World Cup for the man from Schönberg, who has famously resigned from his job at Starboard in order to be able to go full throttle at events again.
After consistently finishing in the top 5 in the previous days, the third and final day of the slalom in Pozo did not get off to the best of starts. Twice unlucky in the semi-finals, twice only the small final for Nico - which he then won confidently. In the end, a very strong fifth place for him, thanks to impressive consistency.
Foils are often superior
"The races on the fin are extremely physically demanding in the chop," reports commentator Ben Proffitt. "On the foil, on the other hand, it's very mentally challenging because the slightest mistake can mean the end of the race." On the other hand, you sail much more calmly across the choppy water. Fin or foil, this question hovered over almost all races today. In winds of up to 30 knots, many riders opted for the fin again, but all too often the foils were simply faster on the straights.
World champion Maciek Rutkowski was particularly impressive: the Pole was twice threatened with retirement in the semi-finals after a crash, but on both occasions he made a spectacular comeback and rolled up the field from behind. Although he did not manage another victory, he secured second place in the event classification with convincing consistency. One key to his success was probably his choice of equipment: according to Ben Proffitt, Rutkowski registered the smallest front wing of all the riders. Just 375 cm2 gave him outstanding speed in winds of up to 30 knots - most other riders use this as a backwing.
A razor-thin decision for third place
There was no getting round Enrico Marotti at the very front. Called the top favourite by many before the season, the Croatian won another run and thus secured the event victory even before the last run. An eighth place and a tenth place were the biggest slip-ups in a total of ten eliminations, but he was able to erase them with a string. The second event win after Japan last year, Marotti will be the man to beat in the World Championship race.
The duel for third place between Matteo Iachino and Pierre Mortefon was particularly exciting: the decision was only made on the home straight of the last final, with Mortefon overtaking Iachino in third place by just 0.3 points. Another winner of the day in the men's field was Bruno Martini. The man from Lake Garda, actually a friend of the Finn, won the first elimination of the day on the foil, but in the following heats he was unlucky and got into collisions.
Michele Becker also really turned up the heat on the last day of the slalom race, taking a second and a fourth place. Only the last run did not go optimally with eleventh place, in the semi-final he only finished fifth after a photo finish with Matteo Iachino. Two German slalom racers in the top ten, something that hasn't happened for a long time!
Blanca Alabau dominates the women's event, Jenna Gibson takes two wins
And in the women's race? Blanca Alabau safely rode home her lead in the event classification. Even crashes couldn't stop her, she kept on catching up and took top places on the foil. Sarah-Quita Offringa took second place, followed by Marion Mortefon, who won twice today. The women raced a total of 15 eliminations, and with only nine starters it was always full fleet mode.
You could almost feel sorry for Jenna Gibson. The Brit has been skiing strongly all the time in Pozo and has often been in the lead, but so far she has not managed more than one victory. On the third and final slalom day before Pozo, it looked like her hopes would be dashed. In the lead, Gibson messed up the penultimate jibe - Blanca Alabau passed her on the foil. Next lap, the Brit started strongly again and was overtaken by the Spanish leader at the last moment. The same game threatened in another round: Gibson jibes, but shortly afterwards she skids diagonally across the course with a spin out, while Alabau comes roaring up behind on the foil. This time, however, luck was on Jenna Gibson's side and she was able to keep the Spaniard at bay by a wafer-thin margin and take her second win of the week. Gibson then went one better in the final run and put her run of bad luck behind her. In the end, she finished fourth, ahead of Lake Garda winner Justine Lemeteyer.
This concludes the three days of slalom, as previously scheduled. From tomorrow, wave will be back on the programme - the double elimination for the women and the continuation for the men, or the junior competitions. Stay tuned!
Results World Cup Pozo Slalom
Gents
- Enrico Marotti
- Maciek Rutkowski
- Pierre Mortefon
- Matteo Iachino
- Nico Prien
- Jordy Vonk
- Amado Vrieswijk
- Michele Becker
- Bruno Martini
- Jimmy Thieme
Ladies
- Blanca Alabau
- Sarah-Quita Offringa
- Marion Mortefon
- Jenna Gibson
- Justine Lemeteyer
- Femke van der Veen
- Delphine Cousin
- Marine Hunter
- Mae Davico
Also interesting:
- Marotti and Alabau maintain overall lead in the slalom, Jordy Vonk wins elimination on the Finne
- Finn vs Foil in slalom, Marotti leads, Prien in top form
- World Cup Pozo: Daida Moreno wins the single, Erpenstein in 5th place
- World Cup Pozo: Magnificent opening day, Marcilio Browne wins single elimination ahead of Marino Gil
