Riders to watch at 2015 IPC Para-Snowboard World Championships named

With just one month to go until the 2015 IPC Para-Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, eight riders have been named as Ones to Watch by the sport's governing body, IPC Alpine Skiing.

Those on the list have four Paralympic medals between them from the debut of para-snowboard at Sochi 2014. They have also dominated the new discipline of banked slalom and revised format for snowboard-cross at World Cups in 2014-15.

The Ones to Watch are:

Joany Badenhorst, 20, Australia, women's SB-LL2

Badenhorst has made a great start to her third competitive season, finishing on the podium three times at World Cups in both snowboard-cross head-to-head, time-trial and banked slalom.

Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon, 40, France, women's SB-LL1

France's Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon won silver at Sochi 2014 and has continued her form into 2014-15, taking victory in every World Cup race she has entered.

Patrick Mayrhofer, 27, Austria, men's upper-limb impairment

Mayrhofer became the first upper-limb impaired rider to win banked slalom at the World Cup in Landgraaf, the Netherlands. He continued to turn heads, having followed up with another win in the discipline in Big White, Canada.

Bibian Mentel-Spee, 42, the Netherlands, women's SB-LL2

As well as taking the inaugural women's Paralympic title at Sochi 2014, Mentel-Spee made history again by winning the first banked slalom and head-to-head races. She has dominated over the season with five World Cup victories.

Ben Moore, 29, Great Britain, men's upper-limb impairment

A rival to Mayrhofer, Moore showed his potential by taking first place in World Cup snowboard-cross head-to-head in Aspen, USA. He has also finished in the top three in every race he has entered in 2014-15, with two banked slalom and two time-trial podiums.

Mike Schultz, 33, USA, men's SB-LL1

In his first competitive season, Schultz has dominated the field, taking victories in the debut of banked slalom and the new head-to-head format for snowboard-cross.

Mike Shea, 31, USA, men's SB-LL2

Sochi 2014 silver medallist Shea has started his season off with a bang after beating his Paralympic champion teammate Evan Strong in snowboard-cross and banked slalom at two World Cups.

Evan Strong, 28, USA, men's SB-LL2

Strong took the first men's Paralympic crown in Sochi and in 2014-15 has finished on the World Cup podium twice including a win in time-trial in Aspen.

Full biographies for all riders can be found at the Para-Snowboard website.

La Molina 2015 is expected to feature 80 riders from 20 countries competing across banked slalom and the two formats for snowboard-cross of time-trial and head-to-head between 23-28 February.

Media accreditation is open at the La Molina 2015 website.