SKI CROSS:

Del Bosco thrills home crowd with Rockstar Ski Cross Grand Prix victory

Feb. 11, 2011     ♦ Photos: Ski cross action from Blue Mountain (Marc Landry): Del Bosco with some fans at Blue (Gordie Bowles); men's action (Doug Hamilton); the women roar over a kicker (Doug Hamilton); Video by Infront Sports & Media/FIS

BLUE MOUNTAIN, Ontario — Canada’s Chris Del Bosco followed up his recent freestyle World Championships gold with a victory Friday in the Rockstar Ski Cross Grand Prix World Cup event at Blue Mountain, Ontario.

Del Bosco edged Austrian Andreas Matt, the overall World Cup points leader, to take the win. Czech racer Tomas Kraus was third.

Canada’s Nick Zoricic took fifth, with Stan Rey 14th, Davey Barr 21st, Tristan Tafel 33rd, Robert Lepine 37th, Geoffrey Massing 38th and Brian Bennett 41st.

Germany’s Anna Woerner won the women’s race, besting runner-up Fanny Smith of Switzerland and third-place finisher Jenny Owens of Australia.

Canada’s Kelsey Serwa, the world champion, was fifth, with Julia Murray 10th, Danielle Poleschuk 14th and Catriona Blair 20th.

“It's amazing. Last year I had kind of a bummer result here (11th),” Del Bosco said. “So I was looking forward to having a good one at home. We had a ton of support. I had a bunch of family members out there. It's awesome.

“The crowds were great ― a bunch of kids from the schools we visited earlier this week came out and were screaming all along the course and at the start. It fired me up.”

Del Bosco won his second straight World Cup race and has now finished first or second in four straight races, counting the two World Cup events, X Games and World Championships.

Matt leads the World Cup ski cross standings with 499 points, with Del Bosco second with 325 points and Zoricic third at 239.

“I chipped away a little bit at the overall. Andy's (Andreas Matt) still quite a ways ahead, but there's quite a few races left, so we'll see what happens.”

“(Chris') confidence is at a high right now,” Canada assistant coach Brent Kehl said. “Even if he's starting in fourth or third, he finds a way to get into the top two at the bottom. In the very first heat today, he mistimed his start quite badly, but managed to pull into second place, and he never made that same mistake again.”

Del Bosco outlined his tactics after that mistimed start: “I was patient. I knew there were some places on the top flats that I could make some moves. I got around one guy on the second turn, then (Australia’s Scott) Kneller, he was in front and kind of overshot something, and (American John) Teller and I went around him.”

No such worries in the semis and finals, in which Del Bosco was strong out of the gate.

“I got the holeshot. I had a good (start) for the final, so that really helped,” he said. “I was waiting on that top flat section for someone to try to go around me, but I was skiing a really protective line and didn't really leave anything open and held it together.”

Zoricic, one of the biggest surprises on the tour this winter, said Del Bosco's recent run is remarkable given the unpredictable nature of the sport.

“There's no point anymore,” Zoricic joked. “Everyone knows he's talented, but you look at his results ... he's capable of winning week in, week out. Our sport is really unpredictable  — a lot of things can go wrong, there's a lot first-time winners. For him to do this week in, week out, to have these really fast starts in the final and not give them up, I'm not sure if impressive is the right word. I just go, 'Wow!' ”

Zoricic won the small final Friday for his fifth-place finish. He admitted that he's been in more small finals than he cares for, but with the home crowd, said he was extra motivated at Blue. “Today I knew I wasn't losing that small final,” he said.

“I've been fighting some injuries the last two weeks or so, and yesterday I didn't feel very good at all. Today I woke up feeling a lot better, so that was a positive start to the day. ... I didn't know what I had in me today, so to get what I did out of it is great,” Zoricic said. “I'm not feeling 100 percent, but it was a good day. Coming through the finish and recognizing so many faces, high-fiving people, very close personal friends, parents, my best friends, it's really cool. If I'm gonna perform anywhere, to be able to do it here means a lot to me.”

Rey suffered a pelvic fracture after losing control off a jump in the quarterfinal. He landed on his back and was carried off the hill, then taken to a Collingwood hospital, where tests revealed the fracture. Keith Bradford of Canada Ski Cross said it is unclear whether Rey will require surgery, but said the athlete was alert and awake.

“It was a day full of ups and downs,” Kehl said. “Unfortunately we had some athletes that were injured, but Chris finished the day on a high note by winning the men's.”

“I think we did quite well (as a team). Kelsey could have been in the finals if she hadn't been clipped from behind by one of the athletes (Sweden's Anna Holmlund). ... Kelsey was in the lead at the time but that took Kelsey's tails out. .. There were a lot of collisions in that same spot.”

“It was a tough day to stay focused with everything that was going on,” said Canada head coach Eric Archer. “The course sped up. It was probably 20 to 30 percent faster than yesterday. Everything became super-short and super-technical.”

Serwa wasn’t seriously hurt and skied down the hill to the finish. In the small final, Serwa pulled off an impressive passing move to take the victory and finish fifth overall.

"I did all that I could do," said a disappointed Serwa after the race. "I had a good opportunity to win. It's kind of frustrating but that's the way it goes. I did the best I could. At least I won the small final."

Serwa picked up a minor elbow injury in the crash but will now have a few weeks to rest up and heal her back, which she injured en route to winning gold at the X Games.

"I'm going to rest and have physio four hours a day," joked Serwa.

Rogers Sportsnet plans to broadcast two one-hour shows from Blue Mountain on Saturday, Feb. 19.

— Canada Ski Cross contributed to this report

2011 Rockstar Ski Cross Grand Prix World Cup men's results, Blue Mountain