The weather turned wet and cold for the opening weekend of
Crankworx, but that wasn’t always a bad thing for riders. It kept the dust down
and improved traction for some riders in the Telus Dual Slalom, and if you were
riding the right tires in the Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill — and
most of the top riders were coming off two wet World Cup events in Quebec
— it worked to your advantage.
In the first two events, World Cup leaders Gee and Rachel
Atherton picked up wins in the Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill, with Rachel
also picking up second place in the dual slalom.
Telus Dual Slalom
The day started with morning qualification runs for most
competitors, leading to the first head-to-head races in the afternoon. British
racer Rachel Atherton lost track of how many runs she made in the course, but
didn’t lose a race all day until the finals, when she was edged out by Dutch
rider Anneke Beerten.
“(The course) was actually pretty good with the rain,” said
Atherton. “It actually got pretty cut up in some sections, but it almost made
it better because you could just roll through it. The course was sick, it was
so much fun.
“You’re a bit relieved when it’s over, we’ve done so many runs
to get here, but it’s what we all do and we love it.”
Atherton, this year’s overall World Cup downhill champion, will
also be racing the bigger Giant Slalom course, as well as all three downhill
races during Crankworx. When asked how she keeps her mind sharp when racing and
training day after day, she said “lots of early nights.”
“I’ve been out practicing since 11 this morning, so we’ve all
been out here for nine hours, and everyone’s wet and cold. I’m just happy for
Anneke, she was killing it all day.”
Fionn Griffiths, also British, placed third overall by edging
out Kathy Pruitt. She raced Atherton in the semi-final, and had some trouble
with traction.
“It was pretty greasy and a little unpredictable in places, but
I’m happy I came in third and that Rachel (Atherton) and I pulled it together
for some pretty decent runs,” she said. “The course is really picture perfect,
it was beautiful in the dry and handled the water pretty well — it’s
every slalom lovers wet dream basically.”
Griffiths had the same knobby tires on her bike that she raced
at the previous World Cup in Bromont, Quebec. If she had known the conditions
she might have switched to a more aggressive tread, but in the end she was glad
she didn’t decide to run slicks tires like other competitors after training in
dry conditions on Friday.
“Overall I’m pretty happy. I would have liked to have been up
there more but I did the best I could today. Next race.”
Squamish’s Miranda Miller qualified in the Pro Women’s
category, but was bumped out by West Vancouver’s Micayla Gatto in the first
round. Gatto was then bumped by Griffiths.
In the men’s competition it was J.D. Swanguen’s year. Swanguen
was an underdog in 2007 when he raced in the first dual slalom held in
Crankworx, and crashed in the semi-final after getting the edge on then World
Cup champion Sam Hill of Australia. He was determined not to let anything like
that happen this year.
“I’ve been planning on doing well here since last year’s slalom
and the whole crash upset, and everything went really well and happened like it
should have happened last year,” he said. “Slalom is something I really enjoy,
and coming into this track I knew there would be some good racing and felt
strong that I could win.”
Swanguen got an unexpected boost in the early rounds when
favourite Brian Lopes was eliminated in the second round, Cedric Gracia made
his exit in the third round, and he knocked out Hill himself in the second
round.
In the final round he faced Nico Vink of Belgium, the only
rider that appeared to be enjoying himself as much as Swanguen when the weather
turned.
“The course went from wet to dry and back to wet over the day,
but for me the track was almost better after the rain,” said Swanguen. “It was
stickier, tackier, there was no dust, and no rooster tails in your face —
lots of guys were getting roostered yesterday in the dust, and you can’t see,
you can’t breathe.”
Vink also enjoyed the conditions.
“It’s a really good track, I like pump tracks and trails, and
you didn’t need to do any pedaling so that was good. I was a little amazed when
(Lopes and Hill) went out early, but I know I’m good at riding this kind of
shit. The weather is the same for everybody, so it’s all good. I had control
all the time, but was just a little too slow.”
Chris Herndon edged out his teammate Cody Waren in the small
final to place third.
In the junior categories, Luke Stevens edged out Nicholas
Geddes to take first place, while Noah Brousseau beat Alexander Geddes in the
small final.
In the Junior Men 16 to 18 category Dylan Dunkerton beat out
Luciano Worl for the win. Kyle Marshall beat Whistler’s Tyler Allison in the
small final. Allison was one of the youngest competitors in the category and
was competing with a broken wrist after a crash at the nationals.
In Senior Men 19 to 29, Curtis Robinson was first, followed by
Tim Pearson, Ken Faubert and Brad Tibbs.
The Master Men 30-plus category ended up in battle of Dincus
jerseys, with Cory Leclerc edging out Chad Hendren for the win. Travis Eigeard
was third and Clinton Fowler fourth.
Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill
The Atherton family has been dominating the World Cup circuit
this year, and showed everyone why on Sunday as Rachel and her brother Gee won
the pro categories in the Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill.
The Garbanzo DH is arguably one of the longest and most
challenging downhill races in the world, with competitors dropping more than
1,000 metres over a course just under 10 km in length.
The course was Original Sin, Blue Velvet, In Deep, Duffman,
Golden Triangle, World Cup Downhill, Ho Chi Min, and Monkey Hands to the finish
in Whistler Village.
“We practised on dry trails well before the race, so when the
rain came it changed everything,” said Gee Atherton. “You had to pick new lines
and just go for it.”
That may be an understatement. Atherton finished the course in
14 minutes and 20.4 seconds.
Sam Hill of Australia, the reigning Garbanzo champion, finished
in 14:37 after crashing in the middle of the course and losing a shoe.
Marc Beaumont of the U.K. was third in 14:44.6, while Dan
Atheron was fourth in 14:44.
The top Canadian was Victoria’s Andrew Mitchell in 14
th
with a time of 15:19.5, while Whistler’s Jamie Biluk placed 15
th
in
15:19.7. A total of 87 racers took part in the Pro Men’s category.
On the women’s side, Rachel Atherton had almost 40 seconds on
Fionn Griffiths with times of 16:48.9 and 17:25.1 respectively. North
Vancouver’s Danice Uyesugi was third in 18:32.7, followed by Whistler’s Rebecca
McQueen in 18:41.9. Four riders DNF’ed, including Squamish’s Miranda Miller and
California’s Kathy Pruit.
In Junior Amateur Women 13 to 18, Holly Feniak of Sechelt raced
alone and finished in 21:00.6.
In Senior Amateur Women 19-Plus, Eleanor Maxfield was first by
more than a minute in 18:59.5. Carolyn Kavanagh of North Vancouver was second
in 21:09.7, and Dawn Cashen of Kelowna third in 21:27.7.
Luke Stevens of Calgary picked up his second Crankworx win in
the Boys 13 to 15 category in 16:07.5. Nick Geddes was second in 16:12.3,
followed by Linden Feniak in third in 16:36.2.
In Junior Amateur Men 16 to 18, Marcelo Gutierrez of Columbia
placed first in a Pro category-worthy 15:27.7. Kyle Marshall of Victoria was
second in 16:00.0, while Whistler’s Tyler Allison was third in 16:03.0. There
were 45 riders in the category.
In Senior Amateur Men 19 to 29, James Swinden of Whistler was
first in 15:40.1, followed by James McSkimming in 16:01.1. U.K. rider Matthew
Parkinson was third in 16:03.3.
In Master Amateur Men 30-Plus, Adam Wright of Whistler was
first in 15:58.0, followed by locals Mathieu Hebert in 16:48.3, and Chad
Hendren in 16:53.0.
For all its distance and difficulty, some 307 riders took part in this year’s Garbanzo race.