Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lindsey Jacobellis finished in sixth place in the first snowboard cross World Cup races of the season in Les Deux Alpes (L2A). 

It was a stunning winter day with plenty of snow and sun in the French Alps after a week of tough weather conditions that ultimately led to qualifications getting moved from Friday, Dec. 1 to today, Dec. 3. The experienced legend, Jacobellis, took on the 10 challenging features of the race course to make her way through qualifications, quarterfinals, semifinals and ultimately small finals, finishing in sixth. This comes only a day after her third place finish with teammate Jake Vedder in the snowboard cross mixed team event. 

"Les Deux Alpes really went out on a great race," said Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team snowboard cross Head Coach Rob Fagan. "Incredible work effort from the organizers to handle all the wild weather and snow. I am proud of the team with their efforts. The athletes kept focus and determination throughout the week. The team race yesterday and today’s individual race showed how deep our talent is on the team. Our veteran and new young guns will be a podium threat all season."

Six athletes made the finals, Lindsey Jacobellis sixth, Stacy Gaskill 11th, Cody Winters 12th, Senna Leith 13th, Jake Vedder 21st and Nathan Pare 31st. 

Bri Schnorrbusch, Tyler Hamel, Nick Baumgartner, Boden Gerry and Connor Schlegel were also in L2A to compete but did not qualify for finals.

Up next, the team travels to Cervinia, Italy on Dec. 15-17. 

RESULTS
Men's snowboard cross
Women's snowboard cross
 

Hydro Flask U.S. Snowboard Team athletes Jake Vedder and Lindsey Jacobellis secured third place in the big final of the snowboard cross (SBX) World Cup season opener mixed team event in Les Deux Alpes (L2A).

Weather posed the most significant challenge at the L2A resort, situated at the highest snowboard cross course on the World Cup circuit. Originally scheduled for Friday, Dec. 1, individual competition qualifications were rescheduled due to tough weather conditions. Consequently, the snowboard cross weekend schedule underwent a slight change, with individual competition moved to Sunday, Dec. 3, and the newly added mixed team event taking its place on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Despite a challenging cold start and extremely difficult visibility towards the end, Vedder and Jacobellis navigated the steep and jumpy course, progressing through the quarterfinals and semifinals to secure a spot in the big finals. In the final race, Vedder faced a fast-paced challenge, finishing fourth with only half a second to catch up. Jacobellis, the most decorated female snowboard cross athlete of all time, tackled the course, making up time. Upon entering the cloud at the course's end, Jacobellis experienced a slight loss of speed and went over the heel edge. Despite the setback, she recovered and secured a third place finish for Team USA.

The first win of the season went to Great Britain’s Huw Nightingale and Charlotte Banks, with France’s Loan Bozzolo and Chloe Trespeuch securing second place.

Nick Baumgartner and Stacy Gaskill also participated in the mixed team event, finishing 11th overall.

Next up, men’s and women’s individual competition snowboard cross finals in Les Deux Alpes tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 3. Watch LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live. 

RESULTS
Mixed Team Snowboard Cross