U.S. rider Adam Smith picks up first World Cup win

U.S. rider Adam Smith picks up first World Cup winU.S. rider Adam Smith won the parallel slalom on Sunday in Laandgraaf, The Netherlands, picking up his first World Cup win — and his first podium finish — in the first-ever FIS World Cup race to be held indoors.

Smith, 23, second in the qualifying heats on Saturday, beat Austrian Stefan Kaltschuetz, who qualified 13th, in the finals. Austria’s Siegfried Grabner held off Sweden’s Daniel Biveson for third. The event was held at an indoor ski area called SnowWorld in this Dutch town near the German border.

“We had a few great days of training here and I felt really comfortable with the snow — I just stuck to my guns and nailed it down,” said Smith, who had only made the final 16 three times before in his World Cup parallel career. “The manmade snow isn’t much different from the stuff we always ride on and it stayed firm throughout the race, but it was huge to have all my teammates there to give me confidence after each run.”

Swiss teammates squared off in the women’s finals with Daniela Mueli defeating Ursula Bruhin. Marion Posch of Italy beat teammate Isabella Dal Balcon in the race for third. The top U.S. finisher was Stacia Hookom in 13th, and Lisa Kosglow was 16th. Both were knocked out in the first round of the final.

“It was a total sprint,” said U.S. alpine head coach Nick Smith. “I’ve never seen so many close races. Adam rode great all weekend, he was feeling confident with his training and he carried that into the races. Plus the organizers did a great job; there were more fans here than we’ve ever seen at an outdoor World Cup, and it was loud – the place sounded like a hockey arena.

“I’m looking for this victory to make the rest of the team hungry. We need this kind of momentum and I think this will show that it is possible.”