Haemmerle and Samkova dominate snowboard cross World Cup opener

BySportsbeat

Published 13/12/2019 at 13:46 GMT

There were some familiar faces on the top step of the podium in the opening round of the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup as Alessandro Haemmerle and Eva Samkova kicked off the season with victories in Montafon.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

Austrian Haemmerle, last year's men's champion, was dominant throughout on home snow as he won his 1/8 final, quarter-final and semi-final before coming through in the final ahead of Australia's Cameron Bolton and Italy's Omar Visintin.

And it was a similar story in the women’s race as Czech Samkova, victorious in 2018/19, started fastest and then controlled the final to take gold.

Italy's Michela Moioli edged out Australia's Belle Brockhoff in a photo finish for silver, with Britain's Charlotte Bankes narrowly missing out on a podium in fourth.

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