For the first time this season, Éliot Grondin was unable to get on a snowboard cross World Cup podium. On Saturday, the Quebecer finished eighth in Montafon, Austria, after suffering a fall at the finish line in the semi-final.
True to form since the start of the year, Grondin was the fastest in qualifying which took place on Friday.
The athlete from Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce continued his momentum at the start of the day on Saturday by finishing in first place in each of his first two races.
In a tough semi-final, Grondin had to settle for third place after a fierce battle with the Austrians Alessandro Haemmerle and Julian Lueftner. However, it was the fall of the Quebecer when crossing the finish line that attracted the most attention. Grondin went to the medical clinic for x-rays on an ankle, his agent indicated, except that the results were not available at the time of writing.
Grondin was still able to participate in the B final where he placed fourth. He finished the event in eighth place. The grand final was the affair of Alessandro Haemmerle who beat the Frenchman Léo Le Blé-Jacques as well as his compatriot Julian Lueftner, who finished second and third respectively.
For his part, Tristan Bell took part in the elimination races for the first time this season. He finished fourth in his round of 16 heat to take 30e rank in the final ranking, his best result of the World Cup season.
Éliot Grondin remains at the top of the provisional general ranking for the season in snowboard cross, ahead of Alessandro Haemmerle. The 22-year-old snowboarder should be at the start of the race scheduled for Sunday at the same location.