Crankworx Announces CWNEXT Category for Next Generation Athletes

The athletes who're on track to define the next decade, including Brooke Anderson, Lily Bouchet, Gracey Hemstreet, and Bella Caswell. Photo: Clint Trahan

PRESS RELEASE: Crankworx

As a new decade of mountain bike competition starts to take shape, we're excited to announce the launch of CWNEXT, a new, youth-focused category across the Crankworx World Tour.

CWNEXT will include categories for young men and women, in the following age classes: 13-14, 15-16, 17-18.

Registration opens today at 1 p.m. (PST) for CWNEXT categories in the following events at Crankworx Rotorua 2020 (March 1-8 ):
• 100% Dual Slalom Rotorua
• Rotorua Air DH presented by Bosch
• Crankworx Rotorua Downhill presented by Gull
• Rockshox Rotorua Pump Track Challenge presented by Torpedo7 (the first time a category other than pro will be run for this event)

CWNEXT categories will run at all stops across the Crankworx World Tour in 2020.

Prior to CWNEXT, young athletes would either register for Kidsworx events, or select junior categories in various Crankworx disciplines. CWNEXT was created to bridge the gap between Kidsworx and Crankworx competition, bring youth racing under one umbrella, and provide a development path for young athletes. Whether riders want to improve their skills as amateur racers, or have their sights set on becoming the King or Queen of Crankworx one day, CWNEXT will provide a pro-style level competition and organization for youth participants at Crankworx.

More and more athletes are gearing their training toward the rigors of what it takes to compete at a Crankworx World Tour stop. Athletes like current Queen of Crankworx Vaea Verbeeck are focusing on the physical and mental preparation needed to take on multiple events in different disciplines, and on different bikes, sometimes all in one day. This is inspiring the next wave. This year in Whistler we saw 16-year-old local Jakob Jewett rise to the occasion at the RockShox Ultimate Pumptrack Challenge. There are so many other young riders waiting for their moment to shine. CWNEXT will give an entire crop of athletes, who have grown up alongside the festivals, the opportunity to develop into seasoned competitors.”—Darren Kinnaird, Crankworx World Tour General Manager

Jakob Jewett from Squamish stormed the scene in Whistler this year. Athletes like Jake will now have more opportunities to step up to the plate and show the world what they've got. Photo: Fraser Britton[

I'm really happy to hear about this new platform. It is exactly what we need and it will be so cool to see our sport growing firsthand. It makes a huge difference to have mountain biking on athletes’ radars from a young age. It never occurred to me to try riding mountain bikes until my late teens when I bumped into people who were mountain bikers. I found my love in this sport and it has brought so many positive things into my life. I wish the same for others out there.”—Vaea Verbeeck, Queen of Crankworx

2019's King and Queen, paving the way for the next gen. Photo: Fraser Britton

The world has its eyes on Crankworx. The excitement, culture, environment, passion, and competitive environment all help to fuel our industry. Without continuous improvement, we’d never progress. It’s this kind of leadership with CWNEXT that truly sets Crankworx apart from other events. Kids of all ages are our future, and we have a responsibility to provide meaningful outlets for their growth and ours.”—David Zimberoff, Vice President of Marketing at SRAM

Along with CWNEXT categories, today marks the opening of registration for all other events at Crankworx Rotorua 2020.

We can't wait to see where this next crop of riders is going to take us in 2020 and beyond!

Posted In:
Racing and Events Crankworx

Author Info:

officialcrankworx
Member since Jul 14, 2011
363 articles

7 Comments

RedBurn (Dec 17, 2019 at 4:21)

no XY or YX category ? this would be cool and normal too... (in UCI WC too)

dhgirly (Dec 16, 2019 at 7:41)

Great to see this important step. Amazing!

ginge4 (Dec 16, 2019 at 13:08)

Nice to put a link to how you register for these events....

Rangerofdanger (Dec 16, 2019 at 7:24)

Amazing!

fracasnoxteam FL (Dec 16, 2019 at 10:14)

Good.

oragy (Dec 16, 2019 at 12:34)

Was I the only one that got really tripped out by Mitch's helmet in that last photo?

probably