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There is no stopping Canadian ski cross racer Reece Howden, whether he’s nervous or performing on tired legs.
Howden beat Florian Wilmsmann of Germany and Frenchman Evan Klufts to the finish line on Sunday in Innichen, Italy for a career-best third straight World Cup victory and record-extending 21st of his career.
After becoming the winningest men’s ski cross racer in World Cup history on Tuesday, Howden set another record Sunday with his seventh win in a 10-race stretch to overtake Frenchman Jean-Frédéric Chapuis and Thomas Kraus of the Czech Republic.
“Today, the legs were obviously a little more tired than yesterday. It was a battle [but] I tried my best to be focused,” the native of Cultus Lake, B.C., told the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.
“This is a great way to start the Christmas break and looking forward to getting home and hoping for some powder skiing over the holidays.”
Howden added he is “stoked” to have reached a new speed level in Innichen, where he has four wins. It was paramount, he said, with Wilmsmann threatening to take the lead on the inside Sunday.
“[My competitors] turned [up their speed] a bit more for today and it was good racing,” the Canadian said. “Shout-out to [them]. It’s a tough track but a lot of fun.”
Howden defeated Swiss teammates Alex Fiva and Tobias Baur on Saturday.
Reece Howden of Cultus Lake, B.C., won Sunday’s World Cup ski cross race in Innichen, Italy capturing his twenty-first career win.
On Tuesday in Arosa, Switzerland, Howden admitted to being nervous with the wins record on his mind. He recorded No. 19 on the World Cup circuit that day to pass Chapuis.
Coming off his third Crystal Globe championship as overall season champion, Howden began the 2025-26 campaign slowly, placing fifth and 25th in France, but hasn’t looked back.
Will the 27-year-old return to Italy in eight weeks and deliver on the sport’s biggest stage at the Milan-Cortina Olympics?
He was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games and has not won an individual medal in his four appearances at the world championships, including a first-round exit last March.
Kris Mahler (Canmore, Alta.) raced to a season’s-best sixth place, followed by Toronto’s Kevin Drury (11th) and Ottawa’s Jared Schmidt (13th). Before Sunday, Schmidt was the most recent Canadian man to win three races in a row.
Schmidt’s sister, Hannah, topped the Canadian women in seventh (a season best) while Brittany Phelan (Mont-Tremblant, Que.) was eighth and has four top-10 finishes this season.
Sandra Näeslund of Sweden won her eighth World Cup race in Innichen, most by a women’s or men’s athlete, and extended her lead at atop the season standings.
It was her 43rd World Cup victory and 14th podium finish in the Italian village after Saturday’s bronze medal.
Watch the second day of FIS World Cup ski cross race action from Innichen, Italy.