Eguibar, Moenne Loccoz win snowboardcross World Cup titles

By foxsports
Published

LA MOLINA, Spain (AP) Lucas Eguibar of Spain and Nelly Moenne Loccoz of France claimed the overall snowboardcross World Cup titles on Saturday despite failing to win the third and final race of the season in the Spanish Pyrenees.

Christopher Robanske of Canada won the men's race ahead of American Alex Deibold.

The 21-year-old Eguibar didn't advance past the quarterfinals, but celebrated winning the crystal globe trophy with home fans after his nearest rivals failed to catch him in the points standings.

''I'm so happy to win the globe although the season was so short,'' Eguibar said. ''(I) was very lucky today.''

Moenne Loccoz wrapped up the women's title after finishing second behind race winner and countrywoman Charlotte Bankes.

Riders faced heavy snow and gusts of wind throughout the day, and the tough conditions played a part in several falls.

Olympic champion Pierre Vaultier of France went down in the round of 32. Eguibar's title hopes then appeared to take a serious blow when he failed to advance, but title challengers Kevin Hill and Nikolay Olyunin also fell and failed to make the final.

Eguibar finished with 2,090 points, ahead of Australian Alex Pullin in second with 1,700.

Moenne Loccoz locked up the title after defending champion Dominique Maltais on Canada failed to reach the women's final.

Moenne Loccoz ended with 2,400 points after three second-place finishes. Maltais was second with 1,900.

''It was a pretty difficult race today because of the weather and the snow conditions but we had a lot of fun with the girls,'' Moenne Loccoz said. ''I'm pretty happy to have won the globe today with only second-rank finishes.''