Canada's Reece Howden wins gold at World Cup ski cross event in Italy

Canada's Reece Howden raced to a gold-medal victory on Saturday at the ski cross World Cup stop in Innichen, Italy.

The Cultus Lake, B.C., native was the lone Canadian to make it to the finals and held off silver medallist Alex Fiva, of Switzerland, to be the first to cross the finish line.

"I was just happy to be able to make some corrections for today and ski cleaner, for the most part, and just send it," Howden said. "Last race before Christmas, there's no reason leaving anything in the tank."

The course that had hardened overnight suited Howden.

"This was the classic Innichen with nice hard, fast snow and multiple racing lines," he said. "This cross-Alps tour to start the season is a lot of racing in a short period of time and we couldn't do it without the amazing support we have."

Italy's Simone Deromedis rounded out the men's podium, taking bronze.

It's Howden's second win of the season, after picking up gold in Arosa, Switzerland earlier this month.

The Canadian is second in the men's overall standings with 296 points, trailing Germany's Florian Wilmsmann and his 310 points.

WATCH | Howden captures World Cup ski cross gold in Innichen:

On the women's side, India Sherret, of Cranbrook, B.C., made Saturday's big final at Innichen but did not finish.

Germany's Daniela Maier won gold, Italy's Jole Galli snagged silver, and Marielle Sabbatel Berger of France took bronze.

Fellow Canadians Hannah Schmidt (Ottawa), Marielle Thompson (Whistler, B.C.), and Courtney Hoffos (Windermere, B.C.) took the top three spots in the small final.

At the holiday break, Sherret is the top Canadian in the World Cup standings with 325 points, just five points ahead of teammate Thompson. Maier is in the lead with 369 points.

The next World Cup event begins on Jan. 14 in Reiteralm, Austria.