Holland finishes 3rd in final SBX World Cup rankings

VALMALENCO, Italy — Nate Holland finished 20th in the final snowboardcross World Cup race of the season on Friday in Italy, ending the season in the third spot of the overall points race.

Younger brother Pat capped a solid season with a 16th place finish out of 61 riders, coming on the heels of his second top 10 finish of the season two days earlier. He climbed up to 23rd in the final World Cup standings, the fifth ranked American rider.

The brothers ended the season reasonably healthy after dealing with a spate of recent injuries. Next year figures to be a pivotal one as the world’s best SBX riders will be gearing up for the 2014 Olympics.

France’s Pierre Vaultier did not race on Friday, but still claimed the overall points lead. Germany’s Konstantin Schad won the men’s race, while Russia’s Adrey Boldykov finished second to pass Holland into second place in the final points standings.