Dallago wins his own Red Bull Riders Cup stop

WAGRAIN-KLEINARL (Austria) – The second Riders Cup stop of the 2015 Red Bull Crashed Ice – Ice Cross Downhill World Championship season turned into the ultimate success story for defending world champion Marco Dallago in his native Austria.

Not only did Dallago and his team create a perfect 300-meter long downhill ice track but he also managed to attract 140 of the world’s top competitors from 14 nations, a field that included four former world champions, to Austria’s Alpine winter sports resort of Wagrain-Kleinarl.

Topping it all off for Dallago, there was an incredible buzz in the air as thousands of frenzied spectators lined the track to cheer the local hero and race host to the resounding victory.

Dallago came out on top in a cliffhanger final against two of this year’s hottest racers, Dean Moriarity of Canada and Miikka Jouhkimainen from Finland. In a highly physically challenging final, Scott Croxall of Canada ended up in fourth place.

Before that there was an unusual curiosity in that there were three pairs of brothers duking it out in the semi-finals with Kyle and Scott Croxall, Dean and Dillen Moriarity as well as Marco and Luca Dallago squaring off against each other.

The women’s race was won by Alice Zenz, also from Austria.

Results: 1. Marco Dallago (AUT), 2. Dean Moriarity (CAN), 3. Miikka Jouhkimainen (FIN), 4. Scott Croxall (CAN), 5. Kyle Croxall (CAN) 6. Luca Dallago (AUT), 7. Jim de Paoli (SUI), 8. Dylan Moriarity (CAN), 9. Paavo Klintrup (FIN), 10. Markus Juola (FIN)

Pictures: Joerg Mitter, Andreas Schaad