DELERUE BROTHERS DOMINATE

WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN, Wilmington, NY. Dynastar Snowboard Pro Team riders Xavier and Paul-Henri Delerue, (France) placed first and second at the only USA stop of the 2005 NOKIA FIS Snowboard World Cup Boardercross Tour. The event marked the first time that brothers have ever shared a podium in FIS World Cup Boardercross competition. Xavier and Paul-Henri both rode the new DYNASTAR Delerue pro model, the Concept AUTODRIVE by XDLR. In the hotly contested women’s event, Dynastar pro rider Deborah Anthonioz (France) raced into the finals and onto the podium with a fourth place finish.

In the men’s division, Xavier Delerue posted the fastest times during Sunday morning’s qualification runs. His brother, Paul-Henri (nickname = “Polo”) was close behind with the second fastest qualifying time. Their dominance in the qualifying runs was a precursor of their results in the afternoon finals. Seth Wescott, the only other Dynastar rider in the men’s competition, posted the sixth fasted qualifying time, but was eliminated in the opening round of competition following an on-course collision with a fellow competitor from Germany.

Upon completion of the qualifying runs, Xavier commented that the Whiteface course was exceptionally well built and that it would provide an excellent test of rider skills. The course, just over a minute in length, featured massive jumps that kept riders airborne for a significant percent of their time on course. The unprecedented 1-2 finish posted by the Deleure brothers marks the first time that the riders have shared the podium in a World Cup event and the first time that brothers have ever earned the gold and silver medals in a FIS World Cup Boardercross event. With his win in Lake Placid, Xavier moved into second place overall in World Cup point standings with 2,570. Jasey Jay Anderson from Canada leads the tour by 189 points with a season-long total of 2,759.

Although the course was assessed as one of the most challenging seen to date on the 2004-05 FIS World Cup tour, only one competitor in the afternoon final rounds, Zoe Gillings, from Great Britain, was taken off the course in a toboggan with a knee injury.

In the women’s competition, early rounds featured spectacular crashes that temporarily sidelined all four racers, resulting in a scramble-from-dead-stop, war of attrition. In each round, four racers compete for the top two positions in the round, or face elimination. One notable competitor who was the victim of a full-round crash was Olympic snowboard giant slalom gold medallist, Karine Ruby (France) who ended up sixth overall. FIS World Cup Boardercross competition resumes next week in Spain.

MEN’S FINALS
1. Xavier Delerue (FR)
2. Paul Deleure (FR)
3. Ueli Kestenholz (CH)
4. Nate Holland (USA)

WOMEN’S FINALS
1. Lindsey Jacobellis (USA)
2. Erin Simmons (CDN)
3. Doresia Krings (AUT)
4. Deborah Anthonioz (FR)

Whiteface Mountain will modify the FIS World Cup boardercross, slopestyle and superpipe venues, but leave them in place for the duration of the 2005 winter season so that general public will have the opportunity to experience the thrill of riding on World Cup snowboard courses. The resort offered special $25.00 lift tickets during the weekend to boost attendance at the World Cup event. Hundreds of fans lined the course for the boardercross finals.

The Whiteface Mountain FIS World Cup event was filmed for nationwide broadcast on NBC and will air Saturday, March 12th. Hosts of the broadcast include Pat Parnell and Tina Basich.

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