Maxime Montaggioni was in Canada at the beginning of 2019 for the Snowboardcross World Cup rounds, reflecting on his golden double!
“This event in Canada was an opportunity for me to assess the state of my preparation and see how my knee would behave in competition. It was also a way to see how other competitors were doing; I hadn’t set any specific performance objectives, just to gauge my feelings.
Canada has always been a lucky place for me, so I was delighted that my return took place there. Despite my enthusiasm, I had some apprehensions when I saw the snowboardcross course. The course seemed much faster and more technical than I remembered. It took me about ten runs to feel comfortable, thanks to the wise advice of the coach and the physiotherapist, who were very reassuring about my knee’s capabilities.
On race day, I was able to get into my zone, and the qualifying results helped me gain confidence and gradually let go.
I ended up winning the first race, and as a competitor, I wanted to show that it wasn’t just a stroke of luck. I managed to stay focused and replicate the good things from the first race to win the second one as well!
Now, the next world cups will take place in Spain, where I still need to work on quite a few things; all the competitors will be there, and it will be a real test before the world championships in Finland!”
