Dutch secure double gold at snowboard Europa Cup

The Dutch duo of Chris Vos and Lisa Bunschoten stormed to their first wins of the season on Wednesday (18 November), on home snow at the IPC Snowboard Europa Cup in Landgraaf, the Netherlands.

Reigning world champion Chris Vos was victorious in the men’s banked slalom SB-LL1 after a near perfect performance on the indoor slopes of SnowWorld.

The 17-year-old posted the best run of the day with his first attempt of 35.24 seconds. Austria’s Reinhold Schett (36.64) took second on his Europa Cup debut, laying down a marker for the rest of the season.

The USA’s Mike Schultz (37.98), returning from injury, was third.

In the women’s SB-LL1, French Sochi 2014 silver medallist and banked slalom world champion Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon (42.13) claimed the win. The USA’s Brenna Huckaby (43.92) followed her onto the podium ahead of teammate Nicole Roundy (58.57).

Bunschoten (38.95) delighted the home crowd with her podium topping women’s SB-LL2 performance. She led the USA’s Heidi Jo Duce (47.26) and Spain’s Astrid Fina Paredes (1:16.82), who steps onto the international podium for the first time in her career.

The USA’s Paralympic champion Evan Strong (29.22) was back to winning ways in the men’s SB-LL2, requiring one exceptional first run to claim the win.

The top three was completed by compatriot and world champion Michael Shea (29.93) and teammate Keith Gabel (32.45) showing that the trio who call themselves ‘the three amigos’ are back in business.

In the men’s SB-UL, Austrian world title holder Patrick Mayrhofer (32.51) got his season off to a great start.

The USA’s Michael Minor (33.36) took second on his international debut, pulling out a great final run to steal second away from Great Britain’s Ben Moore (33.81).

Argentina’s Celeste Pedrosa Bersano (1:44.23) completed her three runs in the women’s SB-UL.

Action continues in Landgraaf on Thursday (19 November), this time with the first World Cup of the season also in banked slalom. A second World Cup will conclude competition on Friday (20 November).

Results are available at IPC Snowboard’s website and live updates will be posted to Twitter and Facebook.

An IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup also gets underway on Thursday, with more than 60 skiers from 40 countries.

Results are available at IPC Alpine’s Skiing’s website alongside live coverage on Twitter and Facebook.