After narrowly missing out on hardware at last summer's dual slalom event on home ground, Tegan Cruz didn't miss in Cairns.
The Pembertonian won his first elite-level Crankworx race on Sunday, besting Jackson Frew in the big final. It's a noteworthy achievement: Frew is not only a good friend of Cruz's, but also the reigning and two-time dual slalom champ in Whistler.
Bailey Meares earned bronze after Ryan Gilchrist, the incumbent King of Crankworx encountered a berm with too much speed. He went down forcefully and required onsite medical attention.
"It’s been amazing racing Crankworx since I was a little kid, and yeah, to move from U17, Junior, and now to the Elite ranks, it feels so great to achieve my first gold medal here on the Crankworx World Tour," said Cruz in a press release. "I always try to generally be confident, and some words of wisdom going in, maybe run through the track quickly in your head before you drop in, and yeah, just trying to give myself the best pep talk I can."
He added later on social media: "Amazing racing alongside so many friends pushing each other to the limit. Massive thanks to everyone in my corner and at the event, we did it."
The newly revamped course in Cairns proved to be a major test: its tight corners and slick surfaces caused multiple riders to go down or miss gates. Caroline Buchanan was disqualified in the women's semifinal, settling for bronze and leaving Sabina Košárková to vanquish runner-up Jordy Scott for gold.
"I’m pretty stoked about my week, and yeah, I have no words to say," commented Košárková in a release. "I really didn’t expect to win three [races last week]. And when I won two times yesterday, I was like, okay, third time’s the charm, so I really had to do it."
Click here for more results from Cairns.
