Fox powers to third straight

JESSICA Fox has continued her impressive canoe slalom world cup season, winning the fourth leg of the competition in Ivrea, Italy.

It is the third successive victory for Fox in the women’s C1 event and she confirmed her favouritism for the world championships in Pau later in September, winning in Ivrea by 10 seconds.

The Australian has not been beaten in the C1 in world cups since a missed gate penalty kept her off the podium in the season opener in Prague.

A 50-second penalty also relegated her to 10th at the world under-23 championships in Bratislava.

But her main focus is on winning a fourth successive C1 world championship title.

“I’m happy with my form, but it comes down to the one race in September/October in Pau,” she said.

“I’ve done a lot of races, I’ve been away for five months and now we’re getting to the tricky end of the season.

“It’s what we are training for, it’s what is going to count. In 22 days we have the world championships, and every race I race is going towards that.”

Fellow Aussie Ros Lawrence finished sixth. In other Australian results, Noemie Fox finished 17th in the semi-final of the women’s C1 and missed the final, and 2016 Olympian Lucien Delfour was 13th in the men’s K1, also missing the final.

Australia will have five paddlers in action on the final day of the Ivrea World Cup, with Jessica Fox, Lawrence and Tasmanian Kate Eckhardt contesting the K1 semi-finals, and Ian Borrows and Tasmanian Daniel Watkins competing in the C1 semi-finals. AAP