Canada’s Dominique Maltais caps snowboard cross world title with win

LA MOLINA, Spain – Canada’s Dominique Maltais capped her snowboard cross World Cup title by winning the final of race of the season on Saturday.

Maltais, from Petite-Riviere-St-François, Que., overtook and held off Lindsey Jacobellis to edge out the American and win the women’s final under sunny skies in the Pyrenees mountains. Raffaella Brutto of Italy finished third after Yuka Fujimori of Japan crashed.

Maltais, who won the silver medal at the Sochi Olympics last month, ended the season with 5,400 points. Jacobellis was next with 3,760, followed by Alexandra Jekova of Bulgaria with 2,850.

Paul Berg of Germany beat Olympic silver medallist Nikolay Olyunin in the men’s race.

Berg rode flawlessly through the course to finish ahead of Russia’s Olyunin, with Spaniard Regino Hernandez coming third after he and Calgary’s Christopher Robanske slowed each other down early in the descent.

On Friday, Omar Visintin of Italy claimed the World Cup title when Australian Jarryd Hughes, the only rider with a chance to overtake Visintin in the standings, failed to qualify.

Visintin didn’t advance beyond Saturday’s quarter-finals. Olympic champion Pierre Vaultier of France fell early in the round of 16.

Berg and Robanske both moved ahead of Hughes in the standings. Berg’s win lifted him into second place to end the season with 2,150 points, behind Visintin’s 3,076. Robanske ended the campaign in third with 2,120.