 Hello and welcome to Andermatt for the Red Bull Super Ski Cross. The conditions are perfect. The course is looking breathtaking. We have 24 of the world's best ski cross athletes ready to do battle. The only thing missing is my co-host perfectly on time, Johanna Holtzman. Are you ready for this? I am so ready for this. Okay, let's get cracking. This sport is just so amazing. Even with four people, there's nothing like it. You need to have a good feeling of ski. It's a lot of adrenaline. We've got the respect for each other, but it's not messing around. The best of the best are here. What a glorious day for some racing. Get ready to have your adrenaline gland milked. Those of you who know your telemarketing are probably wondering why I have a legend of the sport stood next to me. Crystal Globe winner and world champion. At the height of your powers, Johanna, you decided to switch over to ski cross. Why? I tried it out and it was so much fun. And then I saw this big challenge of learning something new, which just got me. I mean, in telemark, my favorite discipline was the Parallel sprint, where you go two by two. And now going four by four is just even more exciting. Well, you've spent a season in the sport and you've already got 15th at the Olympics. I'd say it's going fairly well at the moment. You've had your first chance to get a taste of the course and the event out here. What do you make of Red Bull Super Ski Cross so far? The course is super special because we have elements that we normally don't see in a World Cup race, especially the road gap and the tunnel and also the bridge. And then on top of that, you've got two line choices. So you never know which athlete is going where. And that will be mixing up everything. OK, and put it in context for us. Just how good are the athletes that we've got here? We definitely have the creme de la creme here. I mean, for the women's field, every one of the eight of them has already have a podium before. So they might also jump on top of the box. And the top 12 in the men are separated by less than a second. This really is the best of the best. Let's meet two of them right now. Last year's winners, Sandra Nursland and Reese Howden. I was pretty excited about getting the win last year. I think last year I was really fast in the start. Sandra Naven, all lying at the start. Of course, you need to keep it together all the way down. The competition is so stiff. Anybody could take the win. Every time I stand in the start gate, I want to do my best. Everyone wants to win, so it's going to be a good battle. Right now, when I'm in such a good shape, it's just really good to keep on racing. Confidence is high. I know I can do it. I did it last year. I just need to make it happen. OK, let's start with Sandra Nursland, because she's been utterly dominant this year. Can you talk us through it? Tell us what she's done. She has won 11 out of 12 races this year, and her biggest strength is probably at the start. She has been dominating the starts this year. It also feels like she mentioned it there. Confidence plays a massive part for her. Of course, once you're winning a race, you know you can do it again. And she just kept going through all season. OK, we don't want to give her this trophy quite yet, though. Is there anyone else who can really push her today? I think Fanny Smith. She can really catch up with her. I mean, even if Sandra is fastest at the start, Fanny will be at the end of her skis, and she really has the skills to overtake her at any moment. She will put that pressure on her, and she's on home snow. Yeah, Fanny really wants to take that home victory, I think. OK, that's the women. Let's take a look at the men now. We've seen Rhys Howden, but the Swiss have an incredibly strong team. They've got the world champion and the Olympic champion in their ranks. So let's catch up with Alex Fever and Ryan Regges. I remember the first time you came into the team in Sausfe. And the first night you lie on the couch and sofa, no shoes, bare feet and like doing like home. And I look at him and what this guy is doing. I don't like it too much to go against Swiss guys because I'm not full aggressive against my teammates. Yeah, I've always got a bit of respect there. I mean, we understand each other. We respect each other a lot, especially on-piece, off-piece. And just if we're in the heat together, you never really want to race against your teammates. Alex usually is best if his back hurts and is aggressive and angry. I mean, you don't want to piss him off because that's the worst thing you could do because then it's good. If there's a gap, which is half a ski wide, he's going to go for it. I always say Ryan, he uses his body the best. When he has the speed, when it's going, he can he can use his body really well over the rollers and jumps. And it's like a full gas train. Locomotive train, big, old engine. He goes like really hard with his body. Alex is a really aggressive skier, but not the brainless aggressive skier. I call it go for the kill. And that's what Alex can do better than probably anybody else. And that's what I really can learn from, just to see how you can do it and how to motivate yourself for a certain event and in what way. Yeah, I mean, on this track, the start is for sure important. We're probably not the fastest one to here, but we can maybe think figure it out till Saturday. And I mean, there are 16 men here and everybody can win. We're for sure go hard in here. But yeah, at the end, I hope one of us will be at the top of the race. Essentially, Alex Fever is called Ryan Regas, the incredible Hulk of ski cross there, hasn't he? Yeah, yes. I mean, they both have so much experience and so many successes in their pockets and having someone to train with every day in that league is incredible. They push each other so much. And Alex made a point there as well about the size of Ryan. I mean, they're both big lads, but Ryan is huge, isn't he? Yes, he knows how to use his mass and how to accelerate really quickly. OK, we mentioned that it's not just about Reese Howden, Alex Fever and Ryan Regas. The men's field is wide open. Who else stands out to you? I mean, last year it was the rookie of the year, Reese Howden, who also won the Super Ski Cross. So maybe it's this year, this year's rookie of the year. What about the likes of Simone Deramedes? We watched him in training yesterday and it seemed like he had a real finesse on the course. Yeah, he's a young gun and his skills are super smooth. I mean, in the air, he's always totally stable and no matter what happens around him, he just goes for it. OK, well, those are some of the big names to look out for. But we all know who the real star of the show is here. It is, of course, the course. Let's take a closer look at it with Brady Lehmann and Fanny Smith. Hey, here we are in Undermatt. The weather is amazing. The course is looking sick. Let's go check out the Super Ski Cross. So here we are at the big jump coming from a bank with a lot of speed and we need to press it really hard. And here is the first jump. The double bank. This is the first point in the course where the blue and the silver course split. On the left side, we've got the silver line. It's a way sharper bank and it's cutting underneath the other track. On the right, the blue line, the bank is a little longer and smoother, but it has a big jump off the exit, so you're going to have to be ready for that as well. So just behind us is the crown, which is a pretty tricky obstacle. Yeah, it's really fast, high speed coming into here. And there's going to be a couple of different ways to do it. It's really difficult to catch the transitions on the backside. And also, you might be able to try something risky. Go for a gap, go for the pass. Oh, this is the gap jump over the road. There goes down over there. The gap jump, the second point in the racetrack, where the two lines split. The silver line has a big step up into some pretty sharp banks. And the blue line has a rhythm section that leads into this gap jump. It's really tricky in here because you lose sight of the other guys. You have no idea where you're sitting. You could go from first to third here and not even know it. So you're just going to have to charge whichever line you choose. So here we are, the final feature, the roof right, which brings us to the finish line. Yeah, a tricky feature. You've got to be on the balls of your feet coming off the roof. This is going to be your last chance to make a pass into the finish. Of course, it's looking sick, though. Can't wait to race for people at a time. It is a very big and very fast course. How important is it, Johanna, to ski aggressively and attack it? Very important. You need to be self confident. You need to be brave and you need to want to win. OK, that's great advice. So getting intimidated by skiing it defensively just isn't going to work. No, it's not going to work. You have to be sure of your skills and all those athletes have the skills. So it's going to be super exciting. OK, we've got a cameo appearance earlier in the week from one of Andermat's true legends. He was Olympic and World Champion and Crystal Globe winner in downhill. It's Mr. Bernard Roussi. He's also now the architect critically of the Olympic courses for the last three games. So he sat him down to find out what he made of this incredible course. First of all, they call me course architect. But if I see this, only then I know what an architect means. A course architect means because this is really great art, what they have done with a lot of fantasy. I'm sure with a lot of theory and practical experience, very, very important. High praise, indeed, from one of the sports most renowned course builders. Time for you to earn your money, though. Now, Johanna, I'm going to put you on the spot. Who do you think is going to win? Women's and men's. I think for the women's, I'm going to go with last year's winner, Sandra Neslund. And I know I'm boring, but I watched other trainings and I think Griswold is going to make it. OK, I'm going to go. I don't I'm not going to say a name. I think it's going to be Swiss success on Swiss snow. I'm going potentially Fanny Smith in the women's and then one of the four Swiss men in the men's. OK, it is all set for a perfect day of racing. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, though, we'll have the men's quarter finals. Wintertime is shredding time on Red Bull TV. Discover the best content around skiing, snowboarding and many more winter sports. Download the Red Bull TV app for free. And sign in to watch all of our content offline. Download the app now. Here we are up at the start. The athletes making their final preparations. But here we can take a quick glimpse, run you through the course. Being chased down by the drone. And this first turns quite different to last year, Johanna. Yeah, it allows different line choices this year. You can enter high or low and just cut through all the way. Here's the first split, Fanny Opting for the left-hand side, the silver line down through the tunnel. Just squashing that. And on this silver line, you get the inside line here, which actually brings you back. It regains that speed and any lost you might have on the blue line. Here's the second split, big gap over. Now, this section, through the road gap, what do you make of this final section here? Is this the fastest section of the end? I would say it's the fastest section in the end. Yes, you accelerate a lot in this downhill and can get more speed through the rooftop. And you've got to get that rooftop right. If you pop too hard off the roof, then you're going to find yourself a long way down that finish landing. So a very, very fast course. These are the brackets for the men's and we're going to open up with an absolute heater, aren't we, in quarter final one? Definitely. I mean, Johnny qualified 16th, but due to a crash in the second run, so he would have been able to have a top five, I think. So it's a really hot first heat. You've got the Olympic champion in Ryan Regas, first place qualifier in Bastia, Meadol, and then the Swiss legend, Mark Bischoff's burger. So lots of power in there. You might have noticed Tyler Wallach missing from the second heat. We'll come back to that very shortly. But up at the top, the athletes making their way into the start gate. We've got good mix of nations. And the bibs today, we've got blue bib on the fastest qualifier, red on second fastest, yellow on third, and green on the fourth. So Johannes Rovek closest to the camera here, ranked fifth on the World Cup in 2022. Alpine racer like many of the Austrian team have switched to ski cross. We're starting over here in the pink bib, accessorising his goggles. Ryan Regas has gone for that inside line. Regas an absolute beast. You said earlier on that he's able to use that mass. We've got Bastia and Meadol there. The Frenchman qualified first last year as well. But he wasn't able to make the finals. He'll want to make amends this time. Mark Bischoff's burger. So Regas closest to the camera, but it looks like Meadol with a very strong start there. Yeah, they're all almost the same. And now Ryan had to do a little speed check to not ski into the gate. So Johannes Rovek right tucks in behind Bastia and Meadol there. And both of those two splitting to the right-hand side. The two Swiss, Bischoff's burger and Regas going through the tunnel. And they're dropping that Meadol though, still leading the Frenchman onto the crown. Now the silver line can get up to the blue line again. We will see that it's a little bit faster in the end. And they really have a chance to catch them up. Okay, so the two Swiss breaking right as the Frenchman leads the Austrian round the negative turn. But a great line there from Mark Bischoff's burger in the yellow bib. But at the moment it looks like Bastia and Meadol. And Johannes Rovek way out in front of the roof there. Yeah. Frenchman and Austrian across the line first. And the Swiss are left in the dust. Yeah, that was a little bit too much distance to make up again. So a big, big tell there. We're waiting. We're an hour earlier than time trials yesterday. And we saw that the blue line was definitely a little bit quicker yesterday. But that was certainly the case. Yes. And in the blue line we have that big negative turn, which we couldn't see now. But it's still really compact snow and just nice to ski. So Bastia and Meadol making his presence felt right out of the start. And Johannes Rovek leaning on him then. Shoulder to shoulder racing. It's a great squash. Not able. If they're able to draft, this would be the section, wouldn't it? You've got that long straight down to the, oh! And you can see the speed check there from Regez. He was going for that inside line. Yeah, he tried it, but there was just no more space to go for him. Do you think the fact that he's been a Olympic champion and Crystal Globe winner this year has dampened his fire a little bit for the race? Yeah, might be because there was so much pressure on him to win that Crystal Globe. If you're in the lead, then you want to bring it home. And, yeah, I think in Visuna when he won the Globe, then he became a fourth in the final. So that pressure fell off. And yeah, but he's here to enjoy and I think he had a great time. Yeah, he's definitely been one of the bigger characters in the build-up to the racing. But, yeah, certainly it's so hard to hold that intensity throughout a full season. So confirmation of the results now. We will say goodbye to the two Swiss from this quarter-final, Marc Bishosperger and Ryan Regez. And it's Johannes Rovec, the Austrian, and Bastia Mirol, the Frenchman who'll advance to the semi-finals. Now back up at the top of this monstrous course, an absolute beast. We have our second quarter-final. Only three men in this gate. And that is because Tyler Wallach went out in his last training run. We can take a look at that now, Johannes. Yeah, a shoulder-to-shoulder with Simone Devin made us here. He just got a little contact and then lost his balance. Yeah, sometimes that's enough to not make it into the landing properly. Yeah, you can see they had the stretcher out there, but Tyler was able to walk away from that one. Big hematoma on the hip, I think, just a solid impact. Which means we're left with three racers here. And there are some heavy hitters. The Olympic gold medalist from 2018, Brady Lehmann. Then we've got Juice Berry, very, very competent racer. But on the Swiss team, he always seems to sit in the shadow of both Alex Fever and Ryan Regez, but do not ride him off. Then we've got Jonas Len here in here as well. So two Swiss again, all hopes riding on these two after we just saw both Bischoffsberger and Regez sit out. It's a great start there. Yeah, a great start from the Swiss. Brady was the fastest in qualifying and chose the inside line. But now he's in the back of the two Swiss. Far jump for all the three of them. OK, so Brady Lehmann at the back, Ops to head off through the tunnel. So the two Swiss draining through each other. It's Len here leading out in front of Berry, but Lehmann's still very much in this. Yeah, I think in your third position, it's a really good choice to go for the blue line for the silver line to might be able to catch up with them. Yeah, and you're going to stay out of trouble as well, but you can see that negative turn now. Len here leading in front of Berry as they come over that roller up onto the house and Lehmann's got the ski speed here. He's not far off the pace. Ah, close one. And that was a brilliant illustration of how much speed you lose on the negative. They were probably 20 meters out in front around that last turn. What you can see, this negative is like a really sharp turn, but also an uphill turn. So you really lose a lot of speed there. OK, so Brady Lehmann not getting the start he wanted. Instead, it was Jewsberry in the center of the three who got away very quickly. And you think this starts critical, don't you? Definitely it is. It's a really rare uphill start. We don't find that so often in the World Cup. And after this one uphill pull, you have to put your poles into the downhill perfectly to get a quick acceleration in this steep downhill section. OK. Coming through, Len here leading from start to finish. You'll be very, very pleased with this. Soaking up the crown, both of them, all three of them, tripling down that section as well. Yeah, it's a little bit faster than yesterday where we have seen the athletes starting to triple that downhill from the crown. And it's, of course, faster when you make it into the landing. So this is the negative turn that you're talking about. And you could see it there, them climbing uphill in the entry to that turn. Yeah, because you want to make that gate down there. Do you think it's one of the sunniest parts of the course? Are we going to see that really soften up and become slower? It will soften up. And also with the skier skiing it a lot, there will be many tracks in there. OK, so confirmation. Jonas Len here and Jules Berry advanced. The Swiss still have skin in the game after losing Bischofsburger and Rikesh. Unfortunately for Brady Lehmann, his journey is over in the first quarter. Now back up at the top, another very stacked heat. You've singled this one out as potentially one of the closest. Yeah, I think so. I mean, we have Ries Hauden, last year's winner and last year's rookie of the year. And we have this year's rookie of the year, Takats, as well as Jangan Simone de Rometes. And on top of that, Rios Lugai. So, yeah, I can't choose which one's going to win this heat. Very, very close. Ries Hauden, what you can't, well, you can see it a tiny bit there. He grew up as a lumberjack working in the forest. He's an absolute unit. He's so big and he's able to use that weight on this course really effectively. Under Sartre's orders. Out of the gate. And he's Hauden away very, very quickly. And it looks like Takats there. In third place, Rios Lugai in second. And de Rometes having to check over that jump a little bit. A brilliant finesse of the Italian in fourth at the moment. But Hauden leading from the front. Oh, and only Tristan Takats taking the different line here. Okay, so de Rometes very tight on Rios Lugai's tail in third place. Ries Hauden out in front. He's moving on to the outside of Hauden and the Japanese looking very, very fast through there. De Rometes still in the mix though as they come onto the negative. Just Tristan Takats through the gap. Oh no, Simone missed the gate here. He was pushed to the left side and no chance for him. But now maybe Tristan will be able to, ah, it's too far away I think. Oh, you think so? Very, very close. So at the moment the negative on that blue course at the edge of the course. Ries Hauden, business as usual for the big Canadian. De Rometes squeezed out by Sugai. Interestingly, he got squeezed high. We were expecting to see people getting squeezed low and not making the gate on the exit. Yeah, both is possible because you want to enter high to make it through the gate. But of course, if you're behind you want to take the closer line. You have to try it on the inside. Okay, so in the blue bit, Ries Hauden out of that start gate very, very quick and we've seen the inside line being the first choice gate. Hauden's so powerful. Exactly as you said earlier, Johanna. He gets that mass moving very quickly. Yes, and he knows that he's a good starter so he definitely can pick the inside line because he's going to be first in that turn. Runs quite wide there. Certainly leaves the door a little bit open for Sugai. Outside, and that was the interesting part. Deramed is making the choice to chase both. Yeah, he saw his chance in drafting rather than taking the different line. Oh, yeah, but Rio pushed up to... Yeah, they had to try it like this. He wasn't going to leave space, was he? No. He would have been able to hear Simone breathing down his neck and instead he just thought, I'm going to clip this one. You're not coming through. Nowhere to go. Because if he doesn't defend that position then it's going to be him pushing down the negative. True. Oh, Tristan Takats, very close. But it's business as usual for the big rig, Rhys Howden in first, Rio Sugai in second. Tristan Takats and Simone Deramedes. For them it is the end of the road. So now we go into the fourth and final of our quarters. And we've got the reigning world champion, Alex Fever in here. Alongside your teammate, Johanna, Tim Hronik, then we've got J. F. Shapwe in the yellow bib of France. And certainly one of the most colourful characters in Ski Cross. One of the founding members of the Canadian Ski Cross team, Chris Del Bosco. Wow. This one could go in any direction as well, couldn't it? Yeah. I talked to Timmy this morning and he's just fired up to go. OK. So Jean Fred Shapwe in the green bib on the inside. Then we've got the Ranger 35-year-old Alex Fever with the lightning bolt on his helmet. The Swiss went out in the first round in 2021 at Red Bull Super Ski Cross. He's going to be desperate to make amends for that this time. Quick start from Jean Fred here. Inside line he had the yellow bib so only third from the times and qualifying, but managed to start really well and takes the lead here. But now, oh, far jump from all of them. Alex Fever catching up neck to neck. That's so close. Racing here. Absolutely brilliant. Timmy Ronek staying in contact there. Oh, nearly on the outside. Just holding onto the line for Timmy Ronek as he sits in behind JF Shapwe and Alex Fever. Fever making the move on the Frenchman now. He's got to get through that section. Otherwise, he's going to be on the outside, the negative. Also, he tries to get in a lot more speed. He tries to get in high to get a lot more speed. But, yeah, difficult from behind here. So Fever over first, followed by JF Shapwe and then neck to neck. It'll be a photo finish between Ronek and Del Bosco. But Alex Fever, very, very dominant. You felt Fever's presence on the course there. He let, he put the pressure on JF Shapwe all the way through that race. Yes. And for Timmy, it was, he had the speed, but at the wrong time. So no chance to overtake him. Yeah. Well, we heard them talking in the first training, that when you come out, well, let's concentrate on the start first. It was absolutely lightning fast for the Frenchman closest to the camera. Yeah. And then he pushes out wider. He's got the space then to push out a little bit wider and find the speed. Fever over the first jump. They're very, very close. Yeah. Beautiful slow-mo here of this jump. You're in very far. It's still a full-press jump. Oh, Del Bosco almost got ejected. We've seen him go high before. Very famously in Pyeongchang in 2018. He did an involuntary backflip. Yeah. Now, Timmy Ronek did well to stay on the crown there, didn't he? Yeah. A little bit pity that he couldn't find the speed afterwards because... Fever did. That was the point where he got the pass. Yeah, right. Because if he hadn't got that pass there, J.F. would have had the inside line on the negative and it could have got very, very uncomfortable for him. Yeah. They managed it really well. Interesting that always the last one in the start section is taking the other line, but it's the only choice to have the chance to overtake. And hope that the other three get tangled up in some way. Yeah. You'll never know what happens with the other three. Okay, confirmation. Fever and Shabwi move through. Ronek and Del Bosco are out. So, these are the brackets going into the semi-finals. Midol, Berry, Lenher, and Rovec. Very, very close. We've got another two Swiss in there, flanked by the Austrian and the Frenchman. Then we've got Fever, Hauden, Suga and Shabwi. That is going to be very tight. Now, we're going to head down into the finish area with a quick interview. Safely say you were one of the favourites going into this race. Tell us what happened. The start was pretty alright. I was just getting right next to the guys bust into the first turn. I didn't want to risk sticking it in. I wasn't quite safe enough there to be able to take the tight line. So, I just took some speed out before I could catch it. And, yeah, BT passed me pretty nice into the tunnel, which is really good to see. It's a nice-speaking pass, but it was a nice manoeuvre, so I guess that's alright. And after it was kind of clean at the bottom, I just kind of caught an edge to get out of the way. And, yeah, I lost some speed. Seems like the blue track is faster, so that's going to be the one that's going to be written today. Why did you make the decision to take the silver line? I kind of knew that Basel would take the blue line. And I thought if I get the turns, pretty good. Below the gap, the road gap, the gap jump. There we are. I thought I could generate some more speed towards the finish line, but it didn't seem to work. Sorry to ask, but how much does it hurt to be out that early on home soil? So, I'm not really pleased with it. My performance could have been better. However, it's ski-crossed. You need a little bit of luck. You need a great day. I didn't ski my best, and it's just not enough on this level. So, it kind of hurts, because it's a really cool event. I wanted a good result here, but at the end of the day, season's over. I had a great season, and I'm in one piece, and I'm just really looking forward to holidays. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you very much. Very, very telling there for Ryan Regg. We discussed it a little bit. Maintaining the intensity that he had through the World Cup and the Olympics, it's a bit too much. Once he's... Almost the release valve has gone at the World Cup finals, and now he's a bit more relaxed. Do you think he would have pushed a bit harder on that first turn, if this had been one of those big World Cup races? I think so. If it was the deciding race about the globe, or the Olympic gold medal, then, yeah, he would probably have gone all in, but now it's time to have a cool race and enjoy, and no sense in risking anything. I totally agree with him and that. No one wants an injury in the end of the season, so, yeah, I think he had such a great season, so... Yeah, well, that's... I mean, that's his perspective on it. There's no shortage of fire from any of the other competitors, though, and we've seen that already. The other two Swiss still... Well, we've got three Swiss still in there. We've got Jonas Lenhair, who looked very quick, Juice Berry as well, and we've got Alex Fever, of course, but this is the women's bracket. Sandra Neslund, Katrin Ofner, Danny Meyer and Jade Grilleauber in our first semi-final, and then the second one is that, the three Canadians up against Fanny Smith. It's Canadian championships. And essentially, each of these races is the final because of the caliber of race that we have. Oh, yeah. All of the women have been on the podium before, so I'm sure that they want that feeling on jumping on the box again today and maybe even on the top spot. Okay, so closest to the camera, Jade Grilleauber, she's got a second and a third in Idrafile this year. Then in the pink bib. We've got the Austrian Katrin Ofner just stamping her feet that are veteran of all four Olympics. She's been in the game for so long. Sandra Neslund in the blue bib. The boss, ridiculously dominant form. There's one 11 out of 12 races this year, and she is the Super Ski Cross defending champion. And then Danny Meyer, the Olympic bronze under her belt. Closest to the camera. They're away, cleanly Neslund out in front again. Her style is breathtakingly fast. Yeah, almost a ski length ahead of the others. It's crazy how she dominates the start. Katrin Ofner tucks in behind her. Danny Meyer and Jade Grilleauber. Oh, Berger's huge. So it's going to be drafting now. Katrin Ofner breaks to the left alongside breaking to the right. Sorry, Jade Grilleauber goes through. And then Danny Meyer on the inside has taken that silver line. Yeah, the only one on the silver line again. It will be interesting if she can catch up to Katrin, maybe. So no one opting to double or triple down that one. Instead, Sondra Neslund comfortably out in front. Chafed down by Katrin Ofner and Jade Grilleauber. What Danny Meyer tucks through the bottom here. This is going to be close. Yeah, Danny has free-line choice, but still I think the negative turn is in such a good shape that it's faster. She has the ski speed, but she's still a couple of lengths back behind Katrin Ofner. So Sondra Neslund all smiles as she crosses the line. Three quarters of a second back is Katrin Ofner. Danny Meyer in third, Jade Grilleauber in fourth. But again, a masterclass from Sondra Neslund up at the start. Yes, especially at the start. Her coordination with everything she does there is just perfect. Talk history because we're going to see the replay now. What exactly is she doing here? Yeah, she pulls like really strong, stands up, full hip push and then the first pole push going downhill and then all her movements like she's a little bit pre-jumping into those step-downs. It's yeah, generating speed all the way even if she is not the heaviest in the starting field. And then you said her press technique that we just saw there where you take all the pop out of the jump. Yeah, she goes really narrow with her skis which allows her a big range of movement there with Danny Meyer heading through the tunnel there and you'll see her pop out. She's nearly level with Jay Griglio but she gets a great line in there but it's just not enough. Naislander an off nut navigating that negative turn perfectly and again we see speed match perfectly to the terrain for Sandra Naisland. She is so, so smooth on this course, isn't she? Yes, a nice lomo here at the rooftop where you have time of contact only. It's like a hop off the roof. It's almost like ballet. Okay, confirmation of the results from our first semi Sandra Naisland and catching off an off-nut advance to the finals. Danny Meyer and Griglio will battle it out in the small final. Semi-final number two for the women and this is Canada versus Switzerland. The home crowd will be roaring Fanny Smith on. You can see it in the pink beard but second from the left. Closest to the camera Courtney Hoffos aka Choff and we've got Marielle Thompson in the blue bib. Yes, in the blue bib, Marielle. 108 world cup starts, 52 podiums and 25 wins. It is a breath-taking record. Then we've got Britt Phelan third in right to round just a couple of weeks ago. This one is going to be very tight. Great start from Fanny, it was. Yes, already in the lead. She chased out. Looks like Marielle Thompson right behind her but little speed check for Marielle there. Good line over the jump. Perfect landing. So the drone chasing all four of them going for the blue line. None of them see any Mary in that silver line so they want to get into the mix. So right now we have Fanny Smith from Marielle Thompson from Brittany Phelan from Courtney Hoffos. All of them singling down the crown. On a big double there from Britt Phelan. Now the negative. Fanny Smith has been overtaken by Marielle Thompson. She's going to need to defend round this negative. And Britt Phelan looking for a way through on Fanny Smith but there isn't one. Fanny Smith keeps that door closed as they come on to the roof. And it's going to be Marielle Thompson from Fanny Smith. Britt Phelan in third Courtney Hoffos in fourth. Very tight racing. And Fanny Smith with the pole swing there to celebrate she's really happy in this Canadian championship to move one more round. Almost taken by Britt but yeah she just had the better line there and no chance then. So the customary debrief in the finish area from all four races there working out comparing notes on what they saw and what happened but the first time we've seen all four on a single line great start from Fanny Smith though tucked up early. Yeah really small and low tuck really aerodynamic. And then do we see it was a little speed check from Marielle Thompson coming into this first kick up. She gets very low though you can see the trajectory there. Way lower than Fanny Smith and earlier on the snow again so earlier able to generate speed. But not able to draft and then you see Britt Phelan and Courtney Hoffos do you think at that stage Courtney Hoffos thought Britt Phelan was going to break left on the silver line. Maybe but she had to react to what Britt was doing. That was the mistake from Fanny Smith that cost her the lead I think she didn't get the step down on the crown right and she really cased that last landing but thankfully for all of the Swiss fans and Fanny herself she was able to defend that second place position on the negative from Britt Phelan and she's right on the tips. Yeah Britt was jumping a little bit or giving a little pop to that double which was not necessary actually you could see Fanny and Maria going really smooth over it so you should try to be as flat over the double as possible. Okay here we see the split Mario Thompson and Fanny Smith will be joining Sandra Naesland in the final final good thing is that we're going to see all of them again right in the small final yep so a little course correction here for the silver course they're going to shorten that a little bit so that it becomes a little bit easier we've seen a clear line there on the men's and the men's quarters and the women's semis that the silver course is running a lot slower so we've moved some gates around and we should see that start to even up yeah let's get this information at the start as well and they start thinking okay how much did they move the gate how much faster will I be on the silver course is it worth it now trying this line so it's going to be interesting who's going to choose this line now okay Katrin Hoffner Fanny Smith Mario Thompson and Sandra Naesland in the final Danny Meyer Brittany Phelan Courtney Hoffos and Jake Griglio will be fighting it out for classifications 5th to 8th take a breath that was pretty dramatic stuff we can go down now though to the finish area where we've got Fanny Smith Fanny how did it feel to have three Canadians chasing you down that track you know it's never really far actually so you know they just want to to cut you and and then I managed to to get through and I was really happy with my start and then as you see you could pretty use the draft on the on the right place actually you're excited for the finals now I'm really exciting and we'll give it all and what will be your tactic I mean we do again my best start ever and then we'll see in which position I am and if I'm in front just try to to get all the mother right and if not I would just be on the drive and chasing too fast thank you so Fanny Smith is definitely going to play to her strengths the start there working well for her back up at the top though and it is time for the first of the men's semi-finals semi-final number one in the pink beer here we've got Juice Berry I think the sleeper of the Swiss team I think he's going to be very very strong number one qualifier Bastia Midoll next to him in the blue vest great start there from Juice Berry Bastia Midoll out of the back Janis Lenher as well looking very very tidy neck and neck between Rovec and Berry but Midoll coming back into this now yes and Midoll I think he's going for the silver line yes he did that in training before and he's able to overtake them I'm sure now we'll get to see just how much of an adjustment has been made to this can Midoll catch up on the moment we have Janis Lenher leading out in front of Juice Berry that got really deep so there's going to be a stack up there between Johannes Rovec, Juice Berry and Janis Lenher yes Bastia Midoll coming through this is going to be neck and neck overtaking him great great to see how he looked on the right he knew he had it what a phenomenal catch there from Bastia Midoll he was out of the back all the way through just knows that he's safe Bastia Midoll it is a photo finish between Nehema and Juice Berry but the silver line playing off for him he didn't get caught up and it looked like one of those classic examples in Ski Cross where you're at race pace and everyone wants to keep up with the leader but they've actually overshot the road gap or the whale tail into the road gap yeah I'm excited to see that because that looked really far so terrible start from Bastia Midoll this Len Haer in the yellow gets out in front early alongside fellow countrymen closest to the camera Juice Berry and Johannes Rovec on the outside looking very very tight as well Berry and Rovec coming together in that first turn yeah Bastia Midoll now he's in fourth he just has to stay patient and cut inside here because he already knew he's going to the silver line I was going to ask you when's he made that decision but it looks like he's clear that he's heading and it's okay to be a little bit behind in the crown still because the faster part of the silver line is coming in the GS turns okay so the two Swiss and the Austrian going through that top berm and then this as they come on to the crown here you can see Midoll still very much in the race but it's on this next section you've got the double roller that they all clear and it's over and they all landed flat yeah almost a crash there and they were expected by it and had to go around the Austrian standing up he knew the race was over at that point but this is the clear bit Jewsberry and Basti and Midoll neck and neck as they step up and then on to the house of Midoll already in front on the roof reaching for it and the Frenchman very seemed relaxed didn't he yes because he knows his skills and he's really smooth on that course he has to say pinch the patient and then he has a chance to move on and you can see the reaction up at the top there instantly everyone knows that the silver line is on it is no longer a second choice line the silver line is going to work for you so Yanis Lenher and Basti and Midoll will advance to the finals small final for Jewsberry and Johannes Rovec it's second semifinal and we have some big names in here take a quick look at some of the chairlift gossip though exactly oh my god I see my parents yesterday or just my mom so I go up I give her a hug I was like how's it going she doesn't say word I'm like are you good she has a goggle and she doesn't say anything I'm like what happened what's wrong and she's like I just really don't like this I was like oh my god so this course not a big favourite with the the parents can't imagine if you have to watch your children do battle on this course it must be nerve-wracking but we've got Rhys Howden in the pink vest at the end there then we've got our number one seed in this heat that characteristic lightning bolt on the helmet for the reigning world champion Alex Fever then we've got Ryo Sugai the Japanese had a fantastic quarter-final tucked him right behind Fever and then J. F. Shapui the Frenchman on the outside and again Rhys Howden very quick alongside Alex Fever but shoulder to shoulder through the start there and only Ryo Sugai getting squeezed out yeah good start from Rhys he just the inside line because he knew he can be first in that bank okay so the first three J. F. Shapui Alex Fever and Rhys Howden break to the right Ryo Sugai on the left and it looks like the Frenchman getting left behind now as Fever and Howden Fever makes a move Howden on the outside as they come down off the crown over the rope gap yes Fever's got the move and they go long there but he's held on and close the door on Howden Rhys had to adapt his line a little bit due to the overtake but I think yes I think they should be safe they should be sure okay so the first two seats here making sure work of this one at the moment Fever reaches for the line Howden in second J. F. Shapui in third Ryo Sugai on the silver line in fourth what a nice overtake oh it's beautiful hi Fever has got the Fever today hasn't he yes and the only cure is going to be a trophy out of this Alex Fever looking very very settled and that would have been intimidating two of the big favourites shoulder to shoulder in the start gate it will be yes I mean Alex Fever he's skiing aggressively but always in a smart way because he knows where to go he has the right feeling and then he's just doing it look how low Rhys Howden was there on the right hand side of the pitch up Fever blasting out there as well now Fever in third place J. F. Shapui on the outside but Fever just biding his time squashes that one and that's where he makes the pass in the air on the Frenchman tucks up early yes Jean Fred had to adapt there a little bit but he knew that Fever was coming from the outside it actually says a lot about the way that Basti and Midole skied the silver line to get back into second place that we didn't see Ryo Sugai having a say in this semi-final after the start yeah but we also must say that Midole profited a little bit from the mistake that the others did that slowed them down very true very true so that was the negative Jean Fred battling his way round that negative but he wasn't able to make it pay the mass as we've called it of the big rig Reese Howden blocking his pass path on the negative so it's Alex Fever over the line first followed by Reese Howden with Jean Fredrick Shapui in third Ryo Sugai in fourth Fever looks happy doesn't it we heard Rigez say it at the start of the show that he's got the anger that he can control 49.14 that is a very very big Fever as he books his place in the final alongside Reese Howden a small final Jules Berry Ryo Sugai Jean Fredrick Shapui and Ryo Hannes Rovec the very tight racing Super Ski Cross living up to it's billing your Hanna yeah and Fever just said that it's really hot I mean temperatures are rising again and so the snow is getting softer so we will see how that negative turn develops now it's interesting out of the five Swiss who came into this two of them have made it through to the final but right now I mean you picked him Reese Howden as on this course being nearly unbeatable but Fever's just reeled him in yeah Fever just took him I mean coming out of the wind shadow and like drafting you can sometimes yeah it's possible to be faster even at the time they went together by two but yeah I mean at the start Reese is showing his best starts today moving like pulling out with his full strength perfect coordination putting the poles into the downhill and pushing through standing up with his legs all the time cost a lot of power okay well we can hear from Reese Howden now Reese Alex seems to be on fire today how dangerous is he on this course today well you know he's skiing really fast he's got some super fast boards on too and yeah it's gonna have to have a better start than that to give myself a little more distance to try and keep him off me but yeah you know day's working out great everybody's skiing fast and yeah gonna be good will he be the one to beat in the finals him and the other two boys I think did yeah so that's the first guy to move on from the silver track so obviously lots of speed in the field right now and it's gonna be a really fast big final looking forward to that thank you Reese so according to Reese Howden Bastion Meadol and Alex Fever are the men to beat in the final first though we have the women's small final and the women the women's final so small final what's your verdict Johanna I think Dani I think really Dani if she does a good start and I have seen her doing it in training then she can really win this small final and we didn't see her pace on the blue line did we because she took this she was one of the few women who took the silver line so if she can get out of the gate first if she can really get her teeth into that first turn then she could lead from the front but there is we know there's race pace there but she also knows how to overtake and she's a real fighter so even if she's not coming out first from the start then there's a good chance that she will catch up and this is the women's first taste of the adjusted course now that they've moved the gates on the silver course to make it that little bit faster and we saw that pay off for Bastion Meadol the Frenchman in the first of the men's semifinals coach is just having their last words here to see which gate Dani is going to choose because she had the fastest time trial time probably left or left middle if she trusts in her start then it's probably left okay catch it off now just knocking the quads waking them up making sure the blood is flowing and you've got the power you need to fire yourself down this course Fanny Smith all smiles there's a lot riding on it for her desperate to put one over on Sandra Neslund who's we've got to say had it all her own way this season yeah she won 11 out of 12 races but I think winning race after race the race that rises the pressure no yeah at some point you've got a crack and I mean you put it into a long-term perspective though you look at the last six seasons on the World Cup she's only finished outside the top two once and that was because of the knee injury in 2020-2021 season so she is incredible that's the amazing thing in a sport that is such a lottery she has discovered the cheat code for consistency yeah and her big advantage is her start because most of the time she is first out of the start gate and then you don't really care what the others are doing behind you if they mess it up you're not affected by it and even if she's in second or third she can overtake and focus on her own skiing okay the start gate now is ready for the small final Jay Grilliobur 23-year-old out of Anise eighth overall on the World Cup in 2021 moved up into fifth this year Brittany Fieland out of Whistler one of those hot beds of talent third in right around just a couple of weeks ago actually competing in Slalom in Sochi then Danny Mayer she had a couple of third places this season in Beijing and Nakisaka eighth in the World Cup and then Courtney Hoffos on the outside here nicknames Karchoff big crash in March 2021 has battled back to be fit in 2022 so a good result here would put a full stop on that injury recovery that nervous tension that builds before the start yeah they're all ready to go and I was wrong Danny just middle left but I'm sure she she will do great with that decision what does it feel like in the start in this moment you don't really feel the time passing you just wait for the signal that you can go into the gate total another focus yes good start from Danny here okay so you can see that yellow and green suit of Danny Mayer with Britt Fieland we knew that those two were going to be close and then neck and neck over the first jump Britt Fieland just getting out in front Jay Grigliober breaks to the right alongside Courtney Hoffos and out in front now it's Britt Fieland just ahead of Danny Mayer yeah and Courtney and Jada trying to catch up on the other line but the two of them are doing a great job and just clean landings everywhere and now Danny Mayer in a very very strong spot as they come over the road gap and you could see Danny singling the rollers it's her favorite thing to do and Britt was doubling it normally it's faster if you're able to singly this can be a chance to catch up the speed Danny try and let the skis run and get a bit more race pace out of that negative turn but it wasn't enough Britt Fieland in first Danny Mayer in second Courtney Hoffos in third and Jay Grigliober in fourth very very close racing out of the start there between those two yeah it's so cool to see them all that happy a battle between the Canadian and the German at the front there they came through that first turn and we knew that the course designers have made a bit more space in that first turn and we see it here yeah to make it possible to really ski it shoulder to shoulder to each other I imagine it's quite frustrating that little uphill bump at the start because you're going so slowly and all you want to do is get going yeah you're not used to that but in the end the start is unusual because after that uphill push uphill pull you will go downwards really fast accelerating so quickly so Britt Fieland just getting half a ski length out in front of Danny over the first jump that's the view from the back there with the drone and then you see Jay Grigliober makes a conscious decision to drift out to the left behind Courtney Hoffos yeah maybe it would have been better for Jay to stay in the in the wind shadow of the two of them to try to come closer to them because Silver's line yeah still a little bit slower I would say and they're stepping up onto the heart and down so Britt Fieland will claim fifth position great way to end the season now brilliant racing on a chaotic course it's got to be said takes everything from these races so Britt Fieland will take fifth overall Danny Mayer takes sixth Courtney Hoffos in seventh and then in eighth place Jay Grigliober fantastic race and high spirits there for the fifth to eighth place classification but now it's down to business in the big final four of the world's best ski cross races going toe to toe for the spoils this is going to be nerve wracking yeah I have just been thinking those four have been in so many big finals this year they are all such great ski crosses and I'm just yeah keen to learn what they are doing okay so Fanny Smith looking for that home snow advantage Katrin Offnut been racing very very cleverly today she's been boxing smart 12 world cup podiums you could see then Marielle Thompson she is an absolute weapon on course third overall in the world cup this year Golden Sochi, Silver in Beijing 2019 world champion then it's on to Sandra Nasland defending champion here in Andermatt 11 out of 12 world cups delivered her the crystal globe and she took the Olympics Fanny Smith 29 world cup wins truly phenomenal record the most successful ski cross athlete of all time and she knows this course so so well the key for Fanny a good start yeah a good start and then maybe maybe she will be able to close the door to Sandra because Sandra is on the right side of her so maybe Fanny can squeeze squeeze in on the left okay well Fanny Smith 6 second places 6 second places on the world cup this year which gives you an idea she's equally as consistent as Nasland but just behind her they're under Sartre's orders yeah and Fanny did real well on that and she's putting pressure on Nasland but Nasland just accelerates away once again Fanny dives down low drafting in behind Nasland often behind her Marielle Thompson on the outside Tuck's in and starts to draw Fanny Thompson drifts left into the tunnel yeah but Fanny already drafting on Sandra and coming closer again and going right to the outside of that turn so Fanny made a mistake here and that's what let Marielle Thompson in will she do the same again she soaks it up Sandra Nasland leading convincingly at the moment no Fanny Smith has a very solid run through that step up and onto the road gap Fanny makes the move and Katrin is still in oh no Katrin off not catching her skis on the back of Fanny Smith that means that Sandra Nasland a clean serve heals through the negative there will take first Fanny Smith in second as it has been so often Marielle Thompson in third and Katrin off letting four yeah Katrin had a real chance on catching up there but there was just no place to go for her amazing it's tracked exactly the World Cup finishing standings after 12 races this season they finished in exactly the same way that they have here at Red Bull Super Ski Cross yeah and from Marielle it paid off to take the different line because with the mistake from Fanny and Katrin or the mess up thing she profited from that yeah Katrin often had to make a play for that she didn't know what Marielle Thompson was doing so as far as she knew she was at the back of the race I did not make a mistake interesting Fanny making the point there that she had fantastic drafting yeah and she came closer I think that first right turn she got a little bit into the soft snow and yeah I could quite follow the speed of Sandra then the acceleration of Sandra at the start is that just a good ski tech that's a perfect coordination of all her movements together and then yeah she's strong enough to make her mass move really quickly okay so these are the replays from the small final you can see now we get on to Nasland and the three breaking there getting the technique and you said it you hit the nail on the head Johanna Nasland's technique is immaculate isn't it yeah she's always ready for everything that could possibly happen so she's never surprised by anything keep your eyes on Offner at the back here she's three or four ski lengths back but Fanny makes that mistake now Offner's got the speed she almost spears the Swiss doesn't she yeah Fanny tried to overtake Sandra but it wasn't possible in this position and then Katelyn came with so much more speed and just skied into Fanny I tell you what whether she was oblivious to it or not if she wasn't it was very very brave from Fanny Smith to try and defend that position from Offner yeah when you're in second position you always want to try to to take the first one because yeah you don't always want to be second especially Fanny but then when Fanny had made the mistake it was almost like she got the elbows out and made herself big and just tried to defend that position knowing that Offner was going to be there yeah she felt Offner on her ski ends probably oh and that body language says it all from Fanny Smith I can't believe I held on to that brilliant brilliant racing in the women's Red Bull Super Ski Cross Katrin Offner yeah I'm not happy with that there very disappointing for the Austrian but once again it's all smiles for Sandra Nasland she's been on the top of the podium 14 times now 13 times lucky 13 11 World Cups, 1 Olympics and the Red Bull Super Ski Cross she has won it all this year that is an incredible record for the Swede final classifications in Nasland as we've seen her so often up top Fanny Smith in second Mario Thompson rounds out the podium disappointment for Katrin Offner she rolled the dice on that negative turn but it was only good enough for fourth Britt Fieland first in the small final followed by the German Danny Meier and then Courtney Harfos and Jade Krilley Ober oh take a breath Johanna that was dramatic we can go down into the finish area one of the most dominant ski cross athletes the world has ever seen it is of course Sweden Sandra Nasland Sandra you ended your season with yet another win what does it mean to you to take the Red Bull Super Ski Cross trophy once again it's really fun to be here and fun racing with all the girls happy to have another win it's really cool what would you say is crucial to win on this course I think for me the important today was to be fast out of the gate and I managed to do that good and then I just tried to follow my plan and be accurate on everything and yeah Fanny was close in the in the end but I'm happy will you be back next year to defend your title yeah for sure thank you so that was very very insightful there she focuses exactly as you said on accuracy yeah and the start I think Fanny came out of the gate pretty quickly as well but then she knuckled on the first downhill which took her some speed so you have to stay concentrated to the whole start straight and that was the difference ultimately we heard them talking about it in the finish area and Fanny said I made so many mistakes and in the end that was the difference between the two of them yeah Fanny made some mistakes because she tried to ski on the limit she had to risk something when you're in second and want to catch up then you have to give it all and that's when mistakes happen and I suppose that's part of the key to Sandra Nausland's success it's the fact that she's always out in front so she has the luxury of skiing the way she wants to ski she can choose her line on herself only and then she doesn't really care what happens behind her okay well the women's podium has been settled so now we return to the top for the men's small final fifth to eighth place being decided we have Johnny Rovec out of Austria then we have Jean-Fred Chappuit man out of Val-Taren Ryo Sugai out of Japan two podiums out of 35 starts he's shown repeatedly day after day here though he's got some good race pace and he's not afraid to use it the man who we've said so often sits in the shadow of some of the bigger names on the Swiss team but he's looked impressive here and if I was going to pick a winner I think it would be Jews yes I think I'm going for Sugai okay let's see Johnny had the speed and time trials but only in one time trial and the other one he crashed so now he has the worst starting position from the outside right but if he has a good start he has also a chance to mix it up okay so the way the start works they have an attention athletes and then it's a random drop on the start gate anywhere between zero and four seconds off for Jean-François Chappoy the Frenchman blisteringly quick down that opening straight as he dives into the turn he pushed so hard at the start moving down with his butt almost to the snow that's paid off Jewsberry and I think it was the Austrian breaking to the left no it's real on the left with Jean-François the Japanese and then Johannes Rovec the Austrian in fourth to triple just had to jump away quite a lot to make it to the landing already in the negative now Rios Sugai's got the turn and he's in first place now how in front of Jean-François Chappoy as they come down onto the house and it's Jewsberry in third but Riosugai the Japanese comes through in first place ahead of Jean-François Chappoy Jewsberry and Johannes Rovec great race from Sugai yeah I told you you 100% told me I've got a large slice of humble pie here that I'm going to eat now that's why you're the expert well getting there still have to learn so much but watching these guys doing it so cool yeah I can learn a lot so great start from Jean-François Chappoy in the middle there Riosugai managed to tuck in behind him on this first turn you can see there he's on the outside of Jewsberry yeah a little contact with Rios there before the jump but Rios so much lower in the air than Johnny here yeah essential to spend less time in the air because then you land earlier and can accelerate earlier on the snow again phenomenal pictures there giving us that surround view as they charge through and then there's the split Jewsberry leading Johnny Rovec through the tunnel but that was the faster exit up top for Jean-François and Riosugai and then this is the pass doubling down Riosugai has all of that pace so smooth then he meets that one perfectly boosts over the gap and all he's got to do then is defend that line on the negative yeah always tries to tuck as quick as possible again so he really searched for that speed all the way quick up on the roof here yeah oh Johnny over jumped the roof did you see that no he just skipped it I was focused on Jean-François there just managed to get the touch so Riosugai will take fifth place overall Jean-François in second which will give him six Jewsberry in seventh Johannes Rovec in eighth put yourself in make sure there's no hot drinks or loose food sitting around you this one is going to be dramatic it's the men's final our four racers number one qualifier Bastia Mido has made finals this year Alex Fever the reigning world champion the man who got knocked out in the first round last year has made finals Reese Howden last year's winner second Swiss Johannes Lennart yeah Jonas was fourth here last year I think right and also in the last world cup of the season he became fourth so his form after his injury is really rising and he's a great starter so going to be tight I'm going to put you on the spot again are you going to sit your prediction in the pre-show was that Reese Howden would take the win yeah and I'm going to stay with this okay I'm sticking with Alex Fever Johannes Lennart eight world cup podiums just been missing out but as you said he's in good form coming in the big rig youth Olympic gold medalist in 2016 rookie of the year when he won the crystal globe in 2021 Alex Fever 35 36 years old now sorry 2021 ski cross world champion father of five as well he's used to being busy look how relaxed bastion me dollies first place qualifier he couldn't make that pay last year but he has looked very very quick in both the quarters and the semis today Shade Grigliova Jean Fredchapwe watching nervously from the bottom big deep breaths getting the last oxygen in before the chaos begins this is the Red Bull super ski cross finals think Mario car meets UFC meets motocross that's a lot yeah it's a lot of mayhem bastion me dolly in the blue bib choosing that inside line can he get another breath taking star ahead of Fever in the lane next to him star there from Rhys Howden that was a rocket from Rhys and it's Johannes Lennart on the outside Johannes Lennart in seconds so almost upside down in the time trial seeding Howden so far out in front already and the Swiss locking horns Lennart and Fever both together yeah and bastion trying again his luck with the silver line it worked for him in the semis why not now so right now Fever making a play from third place he's on the outside of Lennart and he's got the pace he got him now because he was really flat on the dribble down and then the rollers afterwards perfectly Fever a little bit on the inside of Howden on his skis there Lennart trying to make the move on Fever and he's got a little bit more pace but it's Rhys Howden out in front over the line Alex Fever in second Johannes Lennart in third bastion me doll couldn't make the silver line pay and settles for fourth brilliant, brilliant race from Johannes Lennart for third place he'll be over the moon with Alex Fever putting pressure on Rhys Howden all the way down but a master class from Rhys Howden once again you called it Johannes yeah he had such a good start and that was so hard for Johannes to catch up with him he is we call him the big rig for a reason he's an absolute beast of a man and he made that pay right from the off yeah he's so strong and yeah just generate speed and everywhere you can so yeah with all the he pushes in and just cool to see well he dominated the start, didn't he and you've said this right from the beginning that the start is the key it's like the serve in men's tennis you've got to be strong and that proved correct for Sandra Naslan and it's been exactly the same now we see it all that way over the heels interesting pull push yes it costs so much energy to stand up and press all you can then especially when you're well over 100 and I think 105 kg they make it look so easy Basti and Mido not a great start for him and that's why he's fourth place around this first turn yeah he trust the inside line I mean he could have also taken middle left or right because if you're not the best at the start then it's hard to squeeze yourself in on that inside Alex Fever all the way back in third there behind Johannes Lenhair he's got to attack he knows he's got to put the pressure and get past Lenhair otherwise Howden's going to get away and the two Swiss fighting for second and third position there changing their lead so you can see here this is Fever's move he doubles down and then everyone else jumps while Fever pumps through that double and there he's got the pace now he's overhauled Lenhair the negative this angle is going to be perfect because Fever turns early and tries to get the upper hand doesn't he's looking for that gap yeah but the snow is soft already so you have to put a lot of feeling into your skiing it's not only about holding the pressure on your outside ski you really have to be smooth with that and Lenhair was snaking around like a salmon behind Fever looking for a line through because he actually had more pace I feel like but Fever defended well through that final straight over the house yeah after Alex overtook Jonas or while he overtook him, Jonas also did a little speed check to ski the transition before the road get perfectly but that caused him some speed and then he was already behind tell you what there was a knockout punch that Rhys Howden threw as he crossed the line there would have taken down an elephant Rhys Howden is in first place he defends his super ski cross title here in Andermar Alex Fever in second Lenhair in third first place qualifier, Bastia Meadol not able to make that pace from the time trial pay and he ends up in fourth Rio Sagai is in fifth Jean-Fedric Chabouille in sixth Jules Berry in seventh Johannes Rovec rounds out the top eight what a dramatic day of racing that was absolutely wonderful intense and when you've got that high of a billing it's very difficult to deliver isn't it yeah it definitely was intense I mean everyone wanted to have a great season end and they were battling really hard so amazing day Ryan Rege is down there in 13th which a lot of people wouldn't have expected let's have a word with the winner how hard has it been out there to defend your wetbull super ski cross title today oh it was tough you know like with the track build this year it just was yeah there was a lot of speed to be had and with that silver line still on the table in a few times it was like yeah you just had to fight all the way to the bottom and that last race I just tried to give myself the biggest head start I could and had a great start and you know I think I was the best start of my whole time here so it was perfect and then yeah I just prayed and kind of tried to ski as fast as I could and hope that nobody got me on that big straight section over the crown and the gap jump what is it about this track that seems to suit you so well that you keep on winning here oh I'd say the start for sure you know having to get over that feature at the top and having my height and my strength it just seems to work out and yeah I just I have a lot of fun in that start and I like it and I just like being able to come out of there as hard as I can is this event starting to become a little special to you oh I hope so definitely no this is super happy you know with how I was super happy I came last year you know it was it was pretty to the wire for me with COVID and all other things so yeah super lucky to be able to make it last year then come home with the win and to repeat you know great way to end a season with a lot of ups and downs so yeah I'm super happy and yeah I'm excited to have some fun tonight and head home great race congratulations very much that is lovely to hear isn't it we can see the start there I mean how much of an advantage does he have yes I mean he put down his best start into the in the final which is really difficult because every every heat you want to have a fast start but getting faster start of the start when your opponents get better around you impressive it's I mean I compare it Alex fever is the same height as Reese Howden but he doesn't have that explosive power so he's he's got the physicality to move his body and get over those obstacles but Reese's power straight out of the gate is phenomenal but all credit to fever he made a great move and very nearly reeled in Reese Howden yeah and Yona still was in between so Alex had to go from to second which was already a way to go so maybe if the course was a little bit longer he would have taken a chance to overtake Reese as well I mean looking at this the style that Reese Howden employs and the gifts that he has naturally in his size can you see it what's it going to take for someone to beat him on this course I mean Yona's is way smaller than Reese for example and he's also very good starter so yeah it's not always about weight only but it's about to be able to have that mass under control and yeah he is such a strong person Reese and does that so it's hard to beat him actually on that kind of course he said it's one of his favorite starts maybe next year in Canada we will have such a start built for him yeah they'll start working that one out I imagine the Italians will build the opposite of that in four years time but there we can see Sandra Naesland she's um I reckon she's going to start being able to charge rent on that top spot of the podium it pretty much belongs to her now doesn't it yeah it does a little bit and it will be so nice for her to have the off season with all those victories well I'm sure that for next year it will build a little bit of pressure because with her dominance this year everyone's going to expect great things from her and I've been really impressed this week she she's almost efficient is the right word for her because there's no she doesn't waste any time or any energy on things that aren't going to help her win I've been watching her very carefully and it's economy of everything so that she can focus 100% on what's going to put her here on the top spot of the podium also in her skiing you can see that she's not making any unnecessary movement like you say she's saving energy everywhere and just goes for it with a smooth style and this is really fast so Marielle Thompson take a look at her right leg she's got a giant knee brace on there she actually it's a testament to how well she's skiing that it took a big big effort to step up on the top third step of that podium in second place though on home snow big big result for Fanny Smith and taking that giant step up once again as we said she's been there almost a permanent fixture this year in 2022 Sandra Naislander stood on the top spot of the podium 11 times in the World Cup that earned her the crystal globe she did it at the Olympics and now she will do it at the Red Bolt Super Ski Cross here in Andermatt defending her title she is breathtakingly consistent and it's going to take a very very special performance in 2022-23 to Ansita back to the drawing board for Fanny Smith, Marielle Thompson and the rest of the women's field to work out how to beat her now now it's time for off season but I'm sure that very very soon everyone's going to work on their strength in the gym and maybe also on their weight to be able to be a good concurrence next year that's really interesting though we've seen the mass of Reese Howden working but then in contrast you look at all of the women here and they're very very slight it can also be an advantage especially when the snow is so soft if you're not that heavy you won't dig in so deep into the tracks okay well there we have it again that master class on the start line from Sandra Nasland so so quick and here we go you see the way she joins this transition perfectly she's such a good finesse skier isn't she yes I'm just impressed by her there you go 29 world cup wins for Fanny Smith she knows her way around a champagne sprite and this time even with spectators must taste even sweeter the smell of champagne 100% the smell of victory so Sandra Nasland a very very deserving winner here in Andermatt for the 2022 Red Bull Super Ski Cross but now it's the turn of the men for the podium it's a big smile for Alex Fever how small does this Lalomski look next to Reese Howden huh haha yeah if you ever want to know how to get your kids into ski cross just leave them lumberjacking for their formative years let them build up all of that upper body strength violent torso as the rock was called and what's interesting he doesn't actually look that massive in his lycra when you see him down at breakfast in the hotel he is huge it's a Alex Fever big tall piece of Swiss timber he is so experienced in ski cross yeah Reese is still young compared to the other two being the Yacht Olympic champion in 2016 and then moved up to the World Cup I mean he has only or his first full World Cup season has only been last year where he became rookie of the year and then also overall World Cup champion I'm sure he was a little bit disappointed of his season this year especially with the Olympics but to round it up on the top must be great so Jonas Lenhair in third place has had three big career wins between 2016 and 18 but gets another podium here second is Alex Fever at age 36 but at the top step for the second time in a row is that man rookie of the year Crystal Globe winner in 2021 he comes back takes his second Red Bull Super Ski Cross here in Andermatt it's the big rig Reese Howden and now he is trying to put up his Ladomski or what so Alex Fever a really successful season for him Silver at the Olympics and second place here on top of that World Championship victory in 2021 Reese Howden definitely getting the worst of that yeah the Swiss won the Champagne Opelink battle a little like a frothy goatee then Santa Claus so that is your men's podium you see Jonas Lenhair ahead of us in the middle in third Alex Fever in second and Reese Howden in first so we're going to take a quick break now when we come back we've got the post show all of the analysis of today's racing and we'll have a special guest in the studio with Fanny Smith see you in a second Lux the European capital of freestyle snowboarding home of the most epic fun park and playground for the dopest boarders Lux Open 2022 now available on Red Bull TV winter is coming so you better be prepared ready waiting for they've got the moves peer pressure and go all in changing your perception in the face of sheer beauty it's the greatest sport in the world you know enjoy the view this is a dream it's pretty obvious that you are where you're supposed to be winter on Red Bull TV outstanding Anna Gasser snowboard world champion and the face of female snowboard progression her doing her crazy tricks makes me believe in myself from snow parks to backcountry my goal is to be a well rounded good snowboarder the metamorphosis of a true pioneer Anna Gasser the spark within now available on Red Bull TV welcome back to the post show we have a very special guest in the studio with us Fanny Smith second place today Fanny how did that feel then for me so I'm so happy to be here and to raise this amazing course and it looked we could hear you in the commentary box we could hear you when you came down you said that you made so many mistakes but you have to take those risks don't you yeah in ski cross you have to if you are second or third you have to take every risk as possible to pass actually but it was a bit too much to actually take the lead and Johanna I mean you watched it all how hard is it to take down Sandra at the moment in your opinion yeah very hard because Sandra is so strong at the start that it's almost impossible to take the lead from the start on but then Fanny with her experience she knows that she can really overtake her and like she said to overtake you need to take those risks at the limit and that's when mistakes happen and it looked coming out of the start it looked like you were very very close to Sandra you were neck and neck yeah we were really close I was really happy with my start and then you know I was trying to make the speed I was on her draft and I could feel that and then that's what happened actually going out from the double turn on the bridge to the roller I wanted to make a bit more rounder turn and actually I got the slushy snow which actually stopped me a bit and then I went back again and then the draft is going away so yeah that was the mistake that's had maybe cost me the pass probably the most dramatic moment came on the negative though you had another look for the gap but having missed it you then slow down and that brings capturing back into the equation yeah completely that's often what happened in ski cross it's like often the first or you know they are battling to for the win and then you know the fourth or third girl just you know take the opportunity but I didn't know that then I felt Catherine really at the last time and I had to you know to take the line again to take the last door and unfortunately she that was hard yeah that's ski cross I mean okay we can see the run on screen now we can talk us through it I mean this was the critical point wasn't it yeah exactly so then I I lost the draft and then I was coming again now I could feel it again and I'm coming closer to Sundra and here I saw well let's try an inside but it didn't manage and then Catherine came out with a lot of speed with draft of two athletes so that's also make a huge difference and I got also the flag in my hand so wasn't that the best way and then well you nearly got a ski in your back as well Catherine did well not to spear you on the end of that. Yeah she is a great skier so I'm not you know I'm always it's always safe with her to ski she ski really nice do you know what I took from that as well the look on Catherine's face at the bottom a lot of people have said oh it's a kind of it's a relaxed race at the end of the season the pressure's no way and she is a fighter as you can know Catherine is a fighter and that's what that's what we love that's what we are that's why we are ski crosser because I think you need to have this this flame and this fighting spirit in our sport even if it's the last race you never turn that racing instinct off do you let's take a look at the men's final though did you watch that from the bottom yeah I watch it it was really close too very very close what did you what did you think of it was it would you have put in the commentary box yeah Hannah had Rhys down straight away yeah I would say also because Rhys is just like you know a machine like he is build like like no one else yeah he is so so um yeah he has so much power and actually the ladies from the Canada until told me that he is build like this from his 16 years old so like he is truly like a machine he hasn't had to grow into that size it's been with him since his teenage years yeah so then you know you peel that out of the gate he is a big man so then he glides well on this snow he liked this course he won last year here and then the two Swiss behind was in the draft but that was not enough today but Alex Fever has that he's got some brilliant race pace and he's very very smart yeah he has this capacity you know after the years for so long on the course you needed to take the best out of what we have and they tried but you see like a small knuckle there and a small mistake there and here so then that's also something who crossed a lot and who crossed the win well thank you so much for all of your insight today Fanny thank you and congratulations on the second place I'm sure you're going to celebrate that yeah I will I will and I'm looking forward to next year maybe next year we can race together okay before we go we've got a little bit of news the UCI downhill season is going to get underway very very shortly let's hear a little bit more about it from Rob Warner if you fancy getting out of Swiss Alps tomorrow then please come and join us here in the French Pyrenees for the opening round of this year's Mercedes-Benz UCI downhill any World Cup race in France is a very special occasion this one tomorrow with 40,000 fans French fans is going to be something very very special something unforgettable please join us at one 25 local time don't forget if you're in Europe that the clocks do go forward and for the rest of the world look at the time we'll see you live on Red Bull TV tomorrow you know it's definitely the end well middle of spring when the clocks are going forward and Rob Warner is back on your screens with mountain bike action thank you so much for joining us here in Andermatt for the Red Bull Super Ski Cross Johanna Holzmann it's been an emotional day what's your highlight definitely the man's final I think the two Swiss battling each other but then also seeing moments like someone Johnny over jumping the house just crazy to see how they adapted to those elements we'll see you here again next year thanks for having me it might be on the course it might be on camera we'll see thank you so much for watching look after yourselves we'll see you next time