World Cup: Van Der Linden wins the women's event, Fedit and Corr in the final
Manuel Vogel
· 06.04.2023
The regatta organisers put the pedal to the metal on the very first day of the Mondial du Vent in Leucate. Skippers meeting at 7.30 am, the heats were drawn and a short time later the green flag flew up for the first freestyle heats of the day.
Ladies: Consistency beats risk
The smaller women's field of 18 riders was quickly whittled down to the top four, with four top riders - Dutch rider Bowien Van Der Linden, Nia Suardiaz, world champion Paula Novotna and Spanish newcomer Mar De Arce - facing each other in the semi-finals. In the first semi-final, Van der Linden managed to defeat Paula Novotna somewhat surprisingly with very confidently landed front and backside 360s and secure her place in the final. Here she was to meet the current leader in the World Cup, Nia Suardiaz, who beat Mar De Arce in the second semi-final.
The final between Suardiaz and Van Der Linden was definitely top class. Suardiaz opened the heat with a clean frontside 360, followed by a frontside 540, but Van Der Linden countered with impressive consistency - she landed nine tricks over the course of the heat and was clearly ahead in the end. The winner was accordingly elated afterwards:
It was fantastic. I landed all the moves I had planned. It's the first win since my shoulder injury last year. Since then I've been training more wave than freestyle and had no expectations, but somehow everything fell into place today.
The results of the women (Surf Freestyle):
- Bowien van der Linden (NED)
- Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
- Paula Novotna (CZE)
- Mar de Arce (ESP)
Creativity is rewarded
48 participants competed in the men's event - and the field was peppered with big names. Just how high the level has become in the men's event became clear in round 1. Defi Wing winner Bastien Escofet immediately came up with a new move combination and took home the first 10 of the day with his squeaky clean Frontside 7 into Frontside 3 - i.e. a 720 followed directly by a 360.
You can watch (and marvel at) the move here!
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Rastaman Alan Fedit was also particularly creative and performed three new tricks in his heat. In doing so, he took advantage of a new regulation that, as of this season, rates new move creations higher (factor 1.2 to 1.3). This is intended to motivate riders to try out new tricks - a plan that works.
Titouan Galea was the first heavyweight to be knocked out in round 2 when he was defeated by the largely unknown Frenchman Axel Gerard. Bastien Escofet was also unable to repeat his firework of moves from round 1 and was eliminated against his young compatriot Noe Cuyala. Alan Fedit, on the other hand, picked up where he left off in round 1 - he performed three moves from the "innovation category", which are rated with a factor of 1.2, and ended up with the highest score of all riders with 36.20 points.
Quarter-finals - elimination for the world champions at the World Cup Leucate
The quarter-finals were followed by some absolute cracker heats. Xavi Corr managed a great victory against the reigning world champion Malo Guénolé, with the extra points of the "innovation catagory" also making the difference for Corr. And the 16-year-old prodigy from the States, Chris MacDonald, also lost out to Balz Müller in the quarter-finals. It was a great victory for Müller. Having recently missed a few events for personal reasons, he has now made an impressive comeback at the World Cup Leucate.
Parked on the home straight
If the wind had held out for just half an hour longer on this day, all the placings would have been finalised by now. As it was, however, only the semi-finals could be held. Axel Gerard showed in semi-final 1 against Xavi Corr that as a newcomer he absolutely deserved his place in the top four - a backflip and a front flip to kick off the heat, that's something you can do. Xavi Corr countered with exactly the same moves, but then landed a trick from the "innovation category", which earned him a whopping 9.40 points and a ticket to the final. Alan Fedit also stormed into the final in the second semi-final against Balz Müller. Müller was always hot on his heels in terms of points, but Fedit simply always had an answer ready.
The young Spaniard Xavi Corr and the French local Alan Fedit will face each other in the final. Let's hope that the wind plays along.
We'll keep you up to date!
