Stoked Sisters

Perfect spring-like conditions greeted racers today for the third consecutive day, as the NOKIA Snowboard FIS World Cup tour stop in San Candido, Italy, ended with a snowboard cross.

FIS course desginer Alex Höller created a course packed with huge jumps and steep turns — an unbelieveable feat considering the scant snowpack in the "Alta Pusteria" of Italy.

Pontus Stahlkloo, who stayed well ahead of his rivals in every heat, claimed his second gold of the season. "We already had a great time, with nice conditions in Park City, but today it was even better," the Swede said, "it felt like competing in summer, the snow was slushy and it was fun racing, especially since I have a freestyle background and used soft boots, this has been a big advantage today."

"We could have more likely done this in a parallel, but Claudia got so much better in snowboard cross lately..."— Manuela Riegler (AUT)

Aussi Zeke Steggall seems to be back in the game after a nasty crash last week. He placed 2nd today. "Now it is down to the final," he said after the race. "Pontus and I have a big advantage, but Guillaume (Nantermod) is not far behind us, so it will be very exciting. My sister came in yesterday and really helped me stretch, so the pain has gone away and I felt pretty good. Second place was kind of over the moon."

"I also changed the wax and it paid off," Steggall added.

Alexander Koller from Austria is also recovering from his crash in Makomanai, Japan, but he pulled it together today, finishing 3rd. "I am really glad that it worked so well," he said, "I had to stay away from racing for three weeks now and did not know about my skills. Today it was also a question of the right wax and that really is not my thing, but the team helped me a lot. I am happy to be third but it could have been even better if I had a better start."

Guillaume Nantermod from Switzerland took 4th.

Stahlkloo and Steggall, currently 1st and 2nd in the standings, will fight for the World Cup title in the finals next week, while 3rd-ranked Nantermod could still catch up with Steggall for 2nd place.

	Men's Final

The women's race went to the Austrian family, literally. Claudia Riegler won, with her sister Manuela right behind her. This is Claudia's first-ever win in snowboard cross and she was obviously stoked. "It is unbelievable," she said, "I could not make it to the final heat for almost two years, so it is great I made it. The course was great, you could just keep going. Manu and myself have planned for this for three years and it was perfect to take first and second place now."

"We could have more likely done this in a parallel," said Manuela, "but Claudia got so much better in snowboard cross lately. I was pretty lucky to make it to second place since I had some problems with the start gate. But I am glad I worked it out."

Italy's Carmen Ranigler made it to 3rd place despite a bout with the flu over the past couple of days. Marie Laissus from France finished 4th.

In the standings, Ranigler now takes the lead, ahead of Laissus and Manuela Riegler.

Except for the men's halfpipe and parallel titles, which have already been decided, the World Cup winners will be determined during next week's finals at Livigno, Italy.

—Britta Semmler, MountainZone.com Correspondent