Kronplatz/Olang (Italy). Perfect conditions again at the Kronplatz when the seventh Snowboard Cross as part of the 2000/2001 Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup was held today. Jasey Jay Anderson and Maelle Ricker claimed the gold and got the Canadian team a double.

The conditions could have hardly been any better � beautiful sunshine all day, minus five degrees centigrate and a nice course that fit alpine and freestyle riders alike. Jasey Jay Anderson made it a hattrick with this third Snowboard Cross win in a row today. Second after the qualifications he took the lead in every run in the finals, similar to the two previous races, and looked safe all the way through. "There is a good compliment for both � alpine and freestyle � on this course," he said, "it was good for alpine for sure but right off that first jump I went so far, so flat every time... I was lucky that I havn�t blown my shins apart � that was definitely an advantage for soft booters, but I worked the hell out of it and just let it go. It was hard they put the working staff at the top so by the middle you were completely burned. At the bottom it was pretty pretty easy but you still had to be on it and then right at the finish they drew a big kicker, which was fun, but you got to stay and it also kept you on to the finish."

French rider Guillaume Sachot finished second, his best result ever on the tour. "I�m really happy," he said, "and it�s just perfect with regard to the World Championships coming up in just a couple of days, it motivates a lot for that one. I just improved all the time and got more and more top ten finishes in Snowboard Cross so second is just great. This course was better then others we had so far this season, good carving and nice jumps. It really was run racing today with such a nice slope and the perfect conditions."

"Aussi" Zeke Steggall and US rider Scott Wescott have been the other two in the final and were switching second and third place behind Anderson in the upper part right after the start but then they both crashed at the same spot. Steggall was the one to finally make it up again for third place, his first podium after his bad crash at last season�s finals, so he was looked happy. "I was coming second there and wished I could cut the corner," he said, "That would have been the way to speed that turn but we both fell and my binding turned also. It it was a bit of a race for third spot but I�m over the moon to get to the podium."

Pontus Stahlkloo from Sweden was the unlucky bird again when he missed a gate in the semi finals and finally made it to fifth place by winning the small final. However, he keeps the lead in the standings ahead of Anderson and Sachot.

Maelle Ricker from Canada contributed to the Candian success by winning the womens� race. It was her second Snowboard Cross victory on the FIS circuit after Whistler in 1999. "It feels great," she said, "and it�s a really sweet victory because two years ago I blew out my knee here so I had a revenge on this course today. I was pretty nervous for that reason but I�m glad I worked it out, especially because it wasn�t really my style of course but I still went for it and had a good time. I like big air so it�s a shame that they cut the jump after the start but it still was a lot of fun."

German rider Sandra Farmand and Marie Laissus from France made it heartbeat finish for second place and only video control could finally confirm Farmand for second place. "After a really bad crash in yesterday�s training I didn�t believe I was able to race today," she said. "I didn�t feel weel and felt tired in my legs but then my riding improved from run to run. I�m super happy since I didn�t expect it to work that good. It was tight at the finish but I just reduced the speed too much prior to the last jump and Marie just took some more risk. I�m glad I had this little bit of luck finally."

Laissus took third place. "I was playing milimeters at the finish," she said, "but it was really exciting. This is my second podium this season and this gives me self confidence to attack at the World Championships. The bumps were pretty tough and it was hard to keep the rhythm but I worked it out and it feels great."

Karine Ruby from France could defend the yellow leader bib although she missed to make it to the finals and finished fifth today. Farmand is still sitting in second ahead of Laissus.

The riders head on to Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, now where the World Championships will take place from 21 through 28 January.

NOKIA FIS WORLD presented Kronplatz, Jan. 19,
Snowboard-Cross Final Ranking

1 ANDERSON Jasey CAN
2 SACHOT Guillaume FRA
3 STEGGALL Zeke AUS
4 WESCOTT Seth USA
5 STAHLKLOO Pontus SWE
6 FEICTHER Arno ITA
7 GREENWOOD Jeff USA
8 POGUE Anton USA
9 MAIER Alexander AUT
10 GRUENER Lukas AUT
11 UNGER Sven GER
12 POZZOLINI Stefano ITA
13 MATHER Florent FRA
14 PARET Damien FRA
15 ZEZIN Denis RUS
16 SMITH Adam USA
17 FLETCHER John AUS
18 EBNER Markus GER
19 ASPMAN Jonas SWE
20 STADLER Felix AUT
21 WAINWRIGHT Ben CAN
22 JANSSON Henrik SWE
23 MALUSA Simone ITA
24 MERMOZ Aymeric FRA
25 BOURGAULT Thomas FRA
26 LAYER Michael GER
27 BORLA Vincent FRA
28 FONT Jordi SPA
29 BOWER Ricky USA
30 GRUNDELIUS Jonte SWE
31 NANTERMOD Guillaume SUI
32 HOWE Glenn NZE
Qualifications
33 NUVOLONI Christian ITA
34 DANIELSSON Tommy SWE
35 TRAKOFLER Robert ITA
36 PITKALA Antti-Jussi FIN
37 HACKHOFER Arthur ITA
38 HEUTEN Emmanuel BEL
39 VAITKOUS Dimitri RUS
40 MERMILLOD Olivier FRA
41 DETKOV Denis RUS
42 LIGOCKI Mateusz POL
43 TICHOMIROV Denis RUS
44 VASTAMAKI Jari FIN
45 STAROWICZ Lukasz POL
46 CHATZIKYRIAKAKIS Markos GRE
47 NOVOTNY Michal CZE
48 GEORGOV Alexandar 1327736
49 HACKHOFER Marcus ITA
50 PETROV Atanas 1327542
51 GOLLER Alex ITA
52 BERGSTEN Anton SWE
53 TROGER Philipp AUT
54 TAGLIAFERRI Tommaso ITA
55 SANDRINI Francesco ITA
56 SAKKINEN Juha FIN
57 JONSSON Markus SWE
58 SUPPO Riccardo ITA
59 MORUZZI Riccardo BRA
60 SAELL Anders SWE
61 PETRUNAK Marek SVK
62 ALMEIDA Carlos 1079416
63 PLANCON Gr�gory FRA
50 Mathieu 1237526 DSQ
62 Mikko 1311343 DNF
64 Alex 1541330 DNF
76 Francois 1407276 DNF
89 Boyan Dimitrov BUL
53 Sebastien 1449180 DNS
58 Mariano 1384481 DNS

Women

1 RICKER Maelle CAN
2 FARMAND Sandra GER
3 LAISSUS Marie FRA
4 TIKHVINSKAJA Maria RUS
Small
5 RUBY Karine FRA
6 RANIGLER Carmen ITA
7 TIBLE Aur�lie FRA
8 DESMARES Nathalie FRA
4-Jan
9 GUENTHER Doris AUT
10 RIEGLER Claudia AUT
11 BERLIOZ St�phanie FRA
12 RIEGLER Manuela AUT
13 MIYAKE Yoko JPN
13 FULLADOR Alessia ITA
15 VAN ERT 1006957
16 CLARK RIBEIRO 1079222
Qualifications
17 MARINI-HUBERT Priscilla FRA
18 BARCLAY Melissa CAN
19 DUBOC Emmanuelle FRA
20 NEWTON Rachel NZE
21 NAMIKI Riyako JPN
22 OTT Lynn USA
23 GROENHOLM Sari FIN
24 HELLMAN Anna SWE
25 KUKUCZ Malgorzata POL
26 PELLISSIER Coralie ITA
26 SNOW Charlotte SUI
28 REY Marjorie FRA
29 CHRISTIANSSON Lina SWE
30 FORMO Birgitte NOR
31 DEMETER Silvia RUM
32 MULARZ Joanna BEL
33 BRANDT Vroni GER
34 DIMOVA Maria 1327445
35 BERVAR Anja SLO
27 Julie 1403105 DNS
43 Dominique 1468774 DNS
49 Kim 1207553 DNS
51 Zuzana 1524064 DNS
55 Nicolien 1102308 DNS
56 Kelly 1470811 DNS
57 Marieke 1102599 DNS
58 Heidi 1316581 DNS
59 Ivana 1207650 DNS
60 Anna 1408052 DNS
62 Gretchen 1539584 DNS
63 Petra 1160896 DNS
64 Laura 1641822 DNS
65 Eden 1682950 DNS