South Tyrolean Markus Eder and La Grave local Aurelién Routens win the second stop of the Freeride World in Courmayeur. The other skiers on the podium were Revelstoke winner Jérémie Heitz (Switzerland) and Swede Reine Barkered. Among the snowboarders, John Rodosky (USA) and Emilien Badoux (Switzerland) took the places for themselves.
The contest on the sunny side of Mont Blanc was postponed again and again - solely because there was no sun. On Tuesday, January 22, 2013, the time had finally come. The freeride men were allowed to go at it again and the conditions were perfect. The sun had finally arrived and there was no shortage of snow in Courmayeur this winter. It had been snowing repeatedly over the last few days and everything was set for a great freeride spectacle.
The results
Men's skiing
1. Markus Eder (ITA)
2. Jérémie Heitz (SUI)
3. Reine Barkered (SWE) Men's snowboarding
1. Routens, Aurélien (FRA)
2. Rodosky, John (USA)
3. Badoux Emilien (SUI)
Ski: Markus Eder ahead of Jérémie Heitz and Reine Barkered
On North American soil, the local skiers still dominated - but now the Europeans at the first stop in Europe. They impressed the judges in both the skiers' and snowboarders' categories and deservedly came out on top. South Tyrolean Markus Eder was somewhat surprised by his first win at an FWT event: "I'm very happy about my line, but I didn't expect to win because the backflip wasn't perfect", says the Italian. "It's fantastic to win here!""
Freeride World Tour - Second Stop in COURMAYEUR from Ride on Scott on Vimeo. It seemed as if the judges had heard the slight criticism about the poor rating of Johnny Collinson's run in Revelstoke. Markus impressed with many freestyle elements, which he skillfully incorporated into the freeriding. He chose an entrance to the slope that no other rider had discovered and rode through the steep slope section in a fast bigmoutain style. In the lower half, he then managed a playful performance in which he jumped a backflip and a 360 and even rode backwards briefly - that was the victory for the Italian, who also moved up to third place in the overall standings.
He was followed by the winner of Revelstoke - the Swiss rider Jérémie Heitz. This put him at the top of the overall standings. "My strategy today was to ride fast and smoothly," he said after his run. "I rode exactly the line I had planned and I'm very happy about second place." After the disappointing performance in Revelstoke, reigning FWT World Champion Reine Barkered (SWE) managed a run with plenty of speed and clean landings this time. With his third place, the Swede returned to the title race.
Unfortunately, no podium places for the German-speaking Alpine riders
Fabio Studer from Koblach/Vorarlberg (AUT) stood three jumps in the steep upper part and a cleanly executed 360 in the lower half; he was the best Austrian in 5th place. "I was very nervous at the top because it was my first start at the FWT", he reported. "But after the first turns I calmed down and concentrated on skiing. At the bottom I jumped a Cork 360 and other tricks, that was fun!"" Stefan Häusl from Strengen am Arlberg finished in 11th place with a safe run; Matthias Haunholder from Walchsee/Tyrol (AUT) came 28th. Tom Leitner from Traunstein (GER) came 24th, Sebastian Hannemann from Augsburg (GER) finished 29th
.Snowboard: Aurelien Routens ahead of John Rodosky and Emilien Badoux
La Grave local Aurelien Routens has now claimed his first victory in his second season at the FWT. Last winter, he surprised the judges time and again with his progressive line choice and would certainly have been back on the podium in Verbier at the final if he hadn't been disqualified for disciplinary reasons. This time, however, everything worked out perfectly and he wowed the spectators with his never-ending straight line at the end of the run. Afterwards, he commented quite modestly: "I just rode like I always do at home in La Grave. This victory is a great surprise that makes me very happy!"" Second place went to John Rodosky (USA), who skied a creative line and several solid jumps on the steep slope in Courmayeur. Third place went to Emilien Badoux (SUI), who impressed with a good line choice and a beautiful backside 360 in the middle section. Max Zipser from Innsbruck (AUT) finished 6th in Courmayeur, Flo Orley from Innsbruck (AUT) came eighth. Aurélien Routens (FRA) leads the overall standings ahead of the winner of Revelstoke, Ralph Backstrom (USA), who had to settle for 5th place today. Emilien Badoux (SUI) is third in the rankings.
More pictures and the results in the gallery
The rest of the Freeride World Tour 2013 competition calendar: 3rd stop: Freeride World Tour Chamonix, Mont Blanc 2013Date: January 26; Venue: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (FRA)Disciplines: Ski & Snowboard, Women & Men 4th stop: Freeride World Tour Chamonix, Mont Blanc (FRA) 4. Stop: Freeride World Tour Kirkwood 2013
Date: February 27; Location: Kirkwood (USA)
Disciplines: Ski & Snowboard, Women & Men 5th Stop: Freeride World Tour Fieberbrunn Pillerseetal 2013
Date: March 9; Location: Fieberbrunn PillerseeTal (AUT)
Disciplines: ski & snowboard, women & men 6th stop: Verbier Xtreme 2013
Date: March 23; Location: Verbier (SUI)
Disciplines: ski & snowboard
