Canadian women tops in snowboard-cross
Maltais finishes 1st, Ricker comes in 2nd
Dominique Maltais and Maelle Ricker delivered a one-two punch for Canada in the first World Cup snowboard-cross race of the season Tuesday.
Maltais, of Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., won a close race against Ricker, the 2010 Olympic gold medallist from Whistler, B.C.
Japan's Yuka Fujimori was third to earn her first World Cup podium.
American Nate Holland won the men's race after Calgary's Dan Csokonay crashed about halfway down the 1,250-metre course. Csokonay finished fourth.
The women's night final, held under floodlights, was a tight race. The two Canadians battled neck-and-neck and it wasn't until the finish that Maltais was able to nose past her teammate.
"I was riding confident and strong the whole day," said Maltais, who was a bronze medallist at the 2006 Turin Winter Games. "I deserved this win."
It was Maltais' first World Cup victory since 2006 in Furano, Japan.