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Semenuk second in Crankworx slopestyle showdown

Lopes the man to beat in Air DH, Giant Slalom, Enduro
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After setting the bar high in the first round of Saturday's Monster Energy Slopestyle finals with a 92.5, Whistler's Brendan Semenuk found himself four points back of Greg Watts 96.0 after the second round.

Semenuk, looking for his third slopestyle win in a row, had a technically perfect run with some more difficult tricks in the superfinals but ended his day in second place with a 95.25 - less than a point back of Watts and the $15,000 prize purse.

Semenuk took it all in stride, happy to have landed all of his tricks in the superfinal run.

"It was down to less than a point so I'm happy," he said. "I'm just stoked that I got my run, I wasn't sure if I was going to stomp it or not - it was pretty 50-50 for me at the start, so I was stoked that I got it. I can't complain."

Both Semenuk and Watts landed big tricks off the start ramp as well as backflip-tailwhip combos, but the edge likely went to Watts for his backflip onto the Giro box. According to Watts, that was the whole point of his run.

"I had that run in mind, but if I was going to do that run I wanted to do the backflip on the Giro box, and after I landed that it was kind of the turning point - once I did that I knew I had to do all the rest," said the Californian.

While he's no stranger to the podium - he's finished second to Semenuk more times than he can remember - it was Watts's first-ever slopestyle win.

"I came into it a little more serious than last year, I didn't party that much, I trained pretty hard, and I think I just wanted it a lot more. It feels good to finally win something," he said.

He was so focused on his performance that the prize money never entered his mind, and he was stumped when he was asked if he had any plans for the money.

"I never really thought that far ahead," he said.

Watts and the other riders preferred this year's contest, which was a little different than past years. Unlike past slopestyles there was only one possible route down through the obstacles with a few options on the way down.

"It's easier for the judges and for the riders because everything happens on one line," Watts said. "Last year there were a few different lines and nobody was sure what would get judged better or worse until the finals, so nobody was sure what to practice.

"I really liked this course, it was big, there were a few different styles of jumps and drops. I had fun, but it could be scary at times. You really had to land your tricks."

Semenuk also liked the course, and the fact that there was just one line to keep it fair. He also said it was a good way to showcase the progression of slopestyle, which has gone up a notch since last year.

"Every year the tricks get a little bit bigger," he said. "One of my favourite (new tricks) is the flip-whip, which I think is the funnest trick ever. I pretty much learned flips just to learn that trick because it looks so rad."

Third place went to Swedish rider Martin Soderstrom with a 90.75, while Paul Basagoitia (90.00), Cameron McCaul (89.25) and Mitch Chubey of Langley (87.75) rounded out the top six making the super final.

The Volkswagen Best Trick award of $6,000 - presented on Saturday after the VW Trick Showdown event on Thursday was cancelled due to rain - went to 2008 slopestyle winner Andreu Lacondeguy. Lacondeguy went down on both of his runs, but that allowed him to go for the best trick which the judges called a 360 flat spin superman but that description doesn't cover all the variations that went on in that jump.

Event organizers pegged the crowds at 20,000, and it was easily the biggest event yet. When Semenuk's name was announced the crowd went crazy. Semenuk says he was trying to focus on his upcoming run, but couldn't help hear it.

"It's always nice when it's people you don't know, but it's fun (to be in Whistler) when your friends are supporting you as well," he said. "It was loud. I was trying not to pay attention to it but it was loud."

Lopes adds Enduro title to his list

Better known for his skills heading downhill, California's Brian Lopes was the biggest revelation to cross-country riders during Crankworx, winning the weekly Loonie race on Thursday before going on to win the pro men's title at the first ever Canadian Open Enduro race on Saturday. It was also his fourth event in Crankworx, with a second place finish in dual slalom and wins in both the Air Downhill and Giant Slalom.

Modelled loosely after a super D uphill-downhill event, the Enduro got underway with a mass start at the top of Garbanzo, then headed down to the village with a few uphill climbs breaking up the descent.

Lopes, a veteran of four cross, was firmly in the lead after the mass start, and wasn't seen again until the finish line. He completed the course - 3,400 feet of vertical descending and less than 500 feet of climbing - in 19:45.09, the only rider to crack the 20 minute barrier.

Whistler's Matt Ryan took second place and $1,250 in the race, but had a much more difficult time from the start.

"I've never done a mass start before and it was total chaos," said Ryan. "I'm a little guy, so right away I was bunted off course. I went through the tape, and was probably 15 deep in the field by the time I pedalled back on course."

On the first climb Ryan started to gain ground and pick riders off, and heading into the next downhill section the field was spread out enough that Ryan managed to stay on the trail. By the end of the race he had moved up to second with a time of 20:34:84, one spot ahead of Whistler's Chris Johnston.

Ryan also had some luck on his side.

"I was following Dave Burch, who is a good guy to follow on the downhills, and when I passed him on the Expressway climb he was cursing because he had a slow flat going, which was too bad because I think he could have laid down a podium run today," said Ryan.

It was a common story on the day. Of the pro men racing, 22 finished while nine were forced to pull out with crashes and mechanicals. Others, concerned with the mass start and wet course conditions during training on Friday, opted to pull out before the race even started.

Other Whistler riders in the top 10 include James McSkimming in seventh, Paul Stevens in ninth and Dylan Wolsky in 10 th .

Fionn Griffths of the U.K. won the women's race in 24:23.68, 10 seconds ahead of Melissa Buhl of the U.S. and 18 seconds ahead of Emmeline Ragot of France. Whistler's Katrina Strand and Kari Mancer were fourth and fifth respectively.

Lauren Rosser of Squamish raced unopposed in Junior Women 13 to 18 in 26:55.21. Owen Scully of Squamish was first in Boys 13 to 15 in 24:29:94, followed by Austin Benge of the U.S. (25:34.18), and Xander Geddes of Whistler (26:51.74). Nick Geddes of Whistler won Junior Men 16 to 18 in 22:26.36, followed by Luciano Worl of the U.S. (23:10:29), and Felix Wilberg of Calgary (23:27.00).

Tom Stewart of Whistler won Senior Men 19 to 29 in 22:42.35, followed by Luke Garside of Australia in 22:48.70, and Joe Bowman of Whistler in 25:04.60.

Joel Robinson of Australia won the Master Men 30-plus category in 22:09.73, followed by Nick Hamilton of England in 23:01.61, and Gary Jackson of Sechelt in 24:02.64.

Lopes, Kinter take Giant Slalom

After crashing hard in the Giant Slalom finals in 2008, Brian Lopes got a break in the 2009 race when opponent Jared Rando went down in the last run of the finals this year - not that he needed it after building a solid lead in the first of two rounds, but Lopes never counted Rando out and knows better than anyone that anything can happen in a head to head race.

"I was definitely up against last year, so to come back and get a win I'm pretty stoked," Lopes said. "You have to be aware of the other rider a little bit, but at the same time you can't get caught up with what they're doing and need to just race your own race. If you worry too much about the guy behind you or when the other rider pulls ahead sometimes you wind up making mistakes.

"You have to have good knowledge of what course is faster, because the other rider may be ahead of you but you know your course is faster at the bottom. Experience definitely paid off for me."

Lopes had a difficult time with the course with rain all but flooding the course on Thursday. But things dried out on Friday and the conditions got faster as the day went on. Lopes adjusted the pressure in his rear shock and tires to compensate, and liked the course better and better as the day wore on. By the time it was all over he made 15 race runs and several other practice runs on the course.

In the small final, Johannes Fischbach edged out Michal Marosi.

On the women's side, Jill Kintner was perfect in every round to make the finals, and seemed to be getting faster as the evening wore on. She liked the fact that there was a lot of pedaling out of the start, and an early opportunity to take the lead heading into the more technical sections.

"I feel that anytime I can pedal I can pull away a little from the competition," she said. "There was definitely more pedaling on this course than last year, and I think the other girls were tired out a little from the six events or whatever they've been doing this week.

"I always feel in slaloms that I can step up my game and pedal as hard as I want, while a race like the Air Downhill was over five minutes and was a lot harder for me."

Kintner's favourite part of the course was a sharp turn into a double jump. Kintner figured out how to jump the gap between the jumps and used it to gain an advantage over opponents who kept their tires on the ground in that section.

"It was tricky to get that turn right and get the pedal in, but I practiced it and found I could get it every time," she said.

Emmeline Ragot of France placed second to Kintner after the finals, with veteran Leigh Donovan topping Manon Carpenter in the small final to place third.

Troy Bronsnan won the junior men's race, edging out Ryan Hunt for the title. Lear Miller bested Whistler's Nick Geddes in the bronze medal round. In the Boys category Brennan Walstrom placed first over Noah Brousseau, with Andrew Doraty beating Eric Wong in the small finals.

Cory Leclerc won the Master Men's competition after a dual against Jason Carpenter, with Jason Halverson in third place, ahead of Chad Hendren.

Hayden Lee topped Dan Miller in Senior Men, with Daniel Mazuti taking third over Greg De Boer.

Anita Naidu edged out Stephanie Grassi in Senior Women.

Hill, Ragot top Canadian Open Downhill

World Cup downhill leader Sam Hill redeemed himself after missing the podium in the Garbanzo Downhill with an incredible performance in the short but technical Canadian Open DH on Sunday. Hill crossed the line in 3:02.56, more than eight seconds ahead of Bredan Fairclough of the U.K., and over nine seconds ahead of Canadian star Steve Smith. There were close to 70 racers in the category.

Emmeline Ragot of France won a close battle in the pro women's competition, finishing the course in 3:45.05, two seconds ahead of Micayla Gatto of Vancouver Island and almost eight seconds ahead of Whistler's Claire Buchar.

In Boys 13 to 15 Brennan Walstrom placed first in 3:39.43, followed by Raoof Aram in 3:56.25 and Kip Shortreed in 3:58.21.

Troy Brosnan placed first in Junior Men 16 to 18 in 3:16.00, while Whistler's Tyler Allison was second in 3:22.62 - his third podium of the week that included a second place finish in the Garbanzo DH and a win the Air Downhill. Cameron Woods placed third in 3:26.47.

Laorena Dromundo of Mexico beat out Squamish's Lauren Rosser for the Junior Women's title, with times of 4:36.61 and 5:10.43 respectively.

Karl Peel won the Master Men 30-plus race in 3:33.77, followed by Andrew Mulcahy in 3:36.42 and Chris Dimbill in 3:37.80.

Adam Price won Senior Men 19 to 29 in 3:26.34, edging out Joseph Taylor's time of 3:26.71. Both are from Great Britain. Gerard Wolfe, who placed third in 3:28.29, hails from Ireland.

Teri Anne Howard raced unopposed to win Senior Women 19-plus.

Lopes defends Air DH dynasty

California's Brian Lopes won the Air Downhill race on A-Line for the fourth consecutive year on Wednesday, Aug. 12, completing the course with a time of 4:20.45. Chris Kovarik of Australia and Andrew Neethling of South Africa rounded out the podium with times of 4:23.48 and 4:24.42.

Fionn Griffiths of the U.K was the top female in 4:50.71, a second ahead of Jill Kintner. Emmeline Ragot was third in 4:52.04, while Micayla Gatto was the top Canadian, fourth with a time of 4:52.53.

Cullen Watson placed first out of 42 athletes in Boys 13 to 15 in 4:50.68, followed by Brennan Walstrom in 4:57.66 and Cole Swanson in 4:57.98.

Tyler Allison won the Junior Men 16 to 18 category with a run of 4:31.05, over four seconds ahead of Australia's Troy Brosnan. Bryson Martin was third in 4:39.47, just 0.2 seconds ahead of Whistler's Nick Geddes.

Lauren Rosser of Squamish was first in Junior Women in 5:19.33, followed by Holly Feniak in 5:25.79.

Andrew Gunn topped Master Men 30-plus in 4:48.58, followed by Bart Brown in 4:50.68 and Chad Hendren in 4:51.17.

Chris Ashton won the Senior Men 19 to 29 race in 4:42.67, followed by Danield Wolfe of Ireland in 4:42.71 and Joseph Taylor of Great Britain in 4:43.20.

Jamie Hill won the Senior Women's 19-plus race in 5:11.21, followed by Lisa Mason in 5:18.16 and Carolyn Kavanagh in 5:19.81.

Stacey Kohut raced unopposed in the four-wheel category, finishing the course in 6:18.64.