Crankworx 2014 Retrospective
Crankworx kicked off with the Fat Tire Crit, an 800 meter loop of dirt and gravel raced on mountain bikes. For the women it's 20 minutes of riding plus three laps, for the men, 25 minutes plus 5 laps. Cash Primes were offered throughout the crit as incentive to go hard, plus the chase moto would cut slower racers out of the mix at any moment.
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1. Jean Ann Berkenpas
2. Leah Guloien
3. Chloe Cross
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MEN
1. Craig Richey
2. Kris Sneddon
3. Spencer Paxson
View the full photo epic.
On this day racers went head to head to in the Clif Bar Dual Speed and Style, where it wasn't only speed that mattered, but how many points you could rack up by throwing down stylish tricks along the way. Kyle Strait proved that he was the man of the day with enough speed to blow off doors and style that went for miles.
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2. Greg Watts
3. Ryan Howard
Watch the full replay of the Clif Bar Dual Speed and Style.
View the full photo epic.
This was be the longest and toughest day of the 2014 Enduro World Series tour yet, with riders spending almost eight hours on the bike, attacking multiple grueling climbs and navigating extreme technical descents. With the men's field tightly stacked the race could have gone any which way. Jared Graves' day started out with a blown fork followed by brake issues, which would seemingly put him out of contention for the overall. Martin Maes came out all guns blazing, taking the win on stage one and with consistent results throughout the day, but a mechanical in stage 5 would pull him from nabbing a podium spot. Local boy Jesse Melamed put the fear into the field when he crashed three times on stage one and still came 5th, then rode his way to his first ever EWS stage win on stage two. Curtis Keene put his local trail knowledge to good use laying down consistent times all day and he would jostle with Damien Oton, Martin Maes, Florian Nicolai and Nico Lau all day. In the end, Graves had a near impossible comeback on stage five, dominating the course with so much determination that he would take the overall win for the day.
In the women's field Cecile Ravanel would finally have her day taking her first ever Enduro World Series win. The steep Whistler terrain would play to her strengths throughout the day as she battled primarily against Ann-Caro in each of the stages. Moseley would not be on form in Whistler leaving the two French women to push each other to the limits until bitter end. When AC got a flat on stage five, Cecile's victory was sealed.
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1. Cecile RAVANEL
2. Tracy MOSELEY
3. Anne Caro CHAUSSON
MEN
1. Jared GRAVES
2. Nico LAU
3. Curtis KEENE
View the full replay here.
View the full photo epic.
View our 33 Enduro World Series Bike Checks
See what Mike Levy had to say after riding Jared Graves' Yeti SB6c Prototype race bike.
While the enduro riders slaved away in the 35 Celsius heat, Liv Giant were hosting an all women's Aline shred session; no boys, just the ladies.
The question of the day was whether or not Marcelo Gutierrez would repeat his win in the Garbonzo DH from 2013. Unlike most years the weather held off and the 7km track was running fast. The competition was hot, but not hot enough to contend against Marcelo's blazing fast time. In the women's field Claire Buchar took the win, proving that although she's not racing the World Cup circuit anymore, she is still a force to be reckoned with.
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1. Claire BUCHAR 14:22.64
2. Casey BROWN +17.66
3. Lorraine TRUONG +1:46.67
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MEN
1. Marcelo GUITIERREZ VILLEGAS 12:24.65
2. Nick BEER +18.65
3. Mark WALLACE +19.55
Watch the full Garbanzo DH replay.
View the full photo epic.
In the evening, the GoPro Dirt Diaries competition would see Ross Measures and Matt Denison win with their film "What I Do in Whistler." The competition sees teams of six create a five minute film that combines riding, story telling and passion.
With Stevie Smith out of contention, the predictions run wild as to who will take the win for the Fox Air DH. At the end of the day Sick Mick would stave off his commonwealth counterparts Chris Kovarik and Danny Hart to take the win. Jill Kintner was hungry to hang on to her title from 2013 and managed to keep Anneke Beerten and Tracey Hannah at bay, sealing her victory for the second year in a row. In a surprising twist for this year's event the Nitro Circus crew showed up to race, with the boys having their own side bet as to who could throw down the most backflips on course. It may not have all been smooth sailing, but it sure was a good show for the track side fans.
Travis Pastrana lays it down in the dirt.
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1st - Mick Hannah
2nd - Chris Kovarik
3rd - Danny Hart
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WOMEN
1st - Jill Kintner
2nd - Anneke Beerten
3rd - Tracey Hannah
Watch the full Fox Air DH replay.
View the full photo epic.
As the sun went down and the stars came out to play the masses headed to the Olympic plaza for the Deep Summer Photo Challenge. 6 photographers and their athletes had three days to put together a slideshow showcasing the abundance of riding the Sea to Sky Corridor has on offer. Ale Di Lullo and his team took the grand prize of $5,000 for their slideshow, 'One With the Flow.'
Ale Di Lullo - Gone With the Flow.
DAY SEVEN
Day seven began with a break from racing and instead featured a fun, jam style formatted event, the Official Whip Off World Championships. Earlier in the week local youngster Finn Isles had been granted last minute entry into the event, so the crowds were eager to see what the kid had up his sleeve. Jamming with big names such as Danny Hart, Brendan Fairclough, Bernardo Cruz and the Coastal Crew was a dream come true for Finn, but in the end his sideways skills outweighed the heavyweights of whips enough for him to walk away with a giant check and likely a few new sponsors.
Official Whip-Off World Championships.
Finn doing his thing.
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2nd - Bernardo Cruz
3rd - Andreu
4th - Aggy
5th - R Dog
View the full photo epic.
In the evening riders descend upon Chrystal Viper Five Cinco de Die-O for the Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge presented by RockShox. An array of riders with strengths in different disciplines tend to show up for this event each year and 2014 was no different. From 4X World Champions, to slopestyle riders to enduro racers and BMX'ers the pumptrack challenge is a place for the cross section of the bike community to meet and compete. As it turned out, 2014 would be the year of the BMX'ers, with pro Barry Nobles and his girlfriend, current world BMX champ Caroline Buchanan making fairytales and taking the win.
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1st - Barry Nobles
2nd - Tomas Lemoine
3rd - Mike Day
Women
1st - Caroline Buchanan
2nd - Jill Kintner
3rd - Anneke Beerten
View the full Ultimate Pump Track Challenge presented by RockShox replay.
View the full photo epic.
After narrowly missing first place in the Ultimate Pump Track Challenge the day previous, Jill Kintner would give it her all and hit the top spot in the Giant Dual Slalom edging out Anneke Beerten in the final run. Mitch Ropelato earned his first gold medal of Crankworx by holding back Barry Nobles and Danny Hart from taking the win.
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Pro Women
1st - Jill Kintner USA
2nd - Anneke Beerten NDL
3rd - Caroline Buchanan AUS
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Pro Men
1st - Mitch Ropelato USA
2nd - Barry Nobles USA
3rd - Danny Hart GBR
Watch the full Giant Dual Slalom replay.
View the full photo epic.
When it comes to slopestyle competition, the Red Bull Joyride is the event of the year. A Platinum stop on the FMB world tour, riders will lay absolutely everything on the line for points and for the mass of fans track side. Brandon Semenuk has had a love/hate history with the event, taking the win twice before but also having faced bitter defeat and all eyes would be on him to see if he could put down a solid run on the day. The competition was fierce, with Brett Rheeder putting in an impeccable performance on his first run. Anthony Messere and Logan Peat brought the heat with solid runs that would make the other competitors sweat, but once Semenuk had seen Rheeder's cards, he got to work in pulling off an immaculate run which could not be beat by the rest of the field.
Brandon's winning run ender.
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2nd - Brett Rheeder
3rd - Anthony Messere
4th - Logan Peat
5th - Louis Reboul
Watch the full Red Bull Joyride replay.
View the full photo epic.
View our article on the Crowds of Joyride.
With the big show over, Crankworx announces that it will be adding New Zealand to its roster for 2015.
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View the full announcement.
Marcelo Gutierrez clearly excels when things get rough. After taking out the field in the Garbo DH, the Giant rider swept the field again on Sunday bringing fellow team mate Danny Hart along to the podium with him. Aussie rider Connor Fearon rounded out the top three for the men, while Tracey Hannah scraped the win from Casey Brown's plate by .63 of a second and Claire Buchar came in for next best in show. Oh, and there were a heck of a lot of hecklers on course, as is to be expected for the Canadian Open DH.
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Pro Men
1. Marcelo GUTIERREZ VILLEGAS 2:50.92
2. Danny HART+ 0.71
3. Connor FEARON+ 1.05
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Pro Women
1. Tracey HANNAH 3:18.96
2. Casey BROWN+ 0.63
3. Claire BUCHAR+ 2.31
Watch the full Canadian Open DH replay.
View the full photo epic.
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Member since Jul 20, 2010
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The same can be observed in all the other events. I understand that the men rider at a higher level than the women naturally, but why should that mean that the podium women can't get the same prize purse as the men?
That's just messed up, c'mon people