Riders to watch in 2015-16 named

Those on the list have four Paralympic medals between them from the debut of snowboard at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, and multiple podiums from the first IPC Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, in 2015.

Sixteen of the world’s best snowboarders have been named as Ones to Watch by IPC Snowboard, with just under one month until the start of the 2015-16 season on 18 November in Landgraaf, the Netherlands.

Those on the list have four Paralympic medals between them from the debut of snowboard at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, and multiple podiums from the first IPC Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, in 2015.

Full biographies can be found at the newly launched IPC Snowboard website.

The Ones to Watch are:

Women’s SB-LL2

Joany Badenhorst, 21, Australia

Badenhorst came back from injury in 2014-15 to win silver in banked slalom at the World Championships and make the World Cup podium three times.

Heidi-Jo Duce, 25, USA

With two World Championship medals and eight World Cup podiums from three seasons, Duce is the next big thing to come out of the USA.

Bibian Mentel-Spee, 43, the Netherlands

As well as taking the inaugural women’s Paralympic title at Sochi 2014, Mentel-Spee won the first banked slalom and snowboard-cross head-to-head world titles. She dominated all last season, also taking the overall World Cup crown.

Men’s SB-LL2

Matti Suur-Hamari, 29, Finland

At the World Championships, Suur- Hamari carried out a shock on US Paralympic champion Evan Strong to win the snowboard-cross title, having finished ahead of him in the overall World Cup rankings last season.

Alex Massie, 20, Canada

Alex ‘Bubz’ Massie had an incredible debut season in 2014-15, riding to bronze in the men’s snowboard-cross in La Molina.

Carl Murphy, 36, New Zealand

Murphy finished in the top 10 in the World Cup rankings in 2014-15, but missed the 2015 World Championships due to an injury sustained at the Winter X Games.

Mike Shea, 32, USA

Sochi 2014 silver medallist Shea completed a double victory over his Paralympic champion teammate Evan Strong last season, winning World Championship gold in banked slalom and the overall World Cup title.

Evan Strong, 28, USA

Strong took the first men’s Paralympic crown in Sochi and showed that he remains amongst the best in the world with a double silver from banked slalom and snowboard-cross in La Molina.

Women’s SB-LL1

Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon, 41, France

France’s Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon captured silver at Sochi 2014 and continued her form into 2014-15, taking victory in banked slalom and silver in snowboard-cross at the World Championships.

Brenna Huckaby, 19, USA

In 2014-15 Huckaby finished on the podium in three World Cup races in snowboard-cross or banked slalom, and went on to win the world title in snowboard-cross and a silver in banked slalom.

Nicole Roundy, 29, USA

Roundy cemented her status as one of the world’s best riders at the World Championships with two bronze medals in snowboard-cross and banked slalom, and an overall second place in the World Cup rankings.

Men’s SB-LL1

Mike Schultz, 34, USA

After missing out on the World Championships because of injury sustained at the 2015 Winter X Games, Schultz is back this season with a point to prove as he aims to improve on his overall third place finish in the World Cup.

Chris Vos, 17, the Netherlands

Vos stunned at the World Championships, storming to double gold in banked slalom and snowboard-cross in the men’s SB-LL1 at the age of just 17.

Men’s SB-UL

Patrick Mayrhofer, 28, Austria

Mayrhofer became the first upper-limb impaired rider to win banked slalom at the World Cup in Landgraaf, the Netherlands, further etching his name into the history books by winning gold in Spain.

Ben Moore, 29, Great Britain

A close rival to Mayrhofer, Moore showed his intent by taking silver in banked slalom and bronze in snowboard-cross in La Molina.

Manuel Pozzerle, 36, Italy

In 2014-15, Pozzerle really settled into his stride. An overall third-place finish in the IPC Snowboard World Cup standings crowned a season in which he won his first world title.

Full biographies for all riders can be found at IPC Snowboard's website.

The 2015-16 IPC Snowboard season kicks off in Landgraaf with a Europa Cup on 18 November, swiftly followed by two World Cups on 19-20 November, all in banked slalom.

There will be a series of eight World Cups spanning November-March and a series of Europa, North America and Asia Cups, underlining the growing global reach of IPC Snowboard.