Crankworx Announces 'World Tour' and Big Cash Prizes
With the addition of Crankworx Roturua for this year, the festival organizers are announcing the Crankworx World Tour today. Should an athlete win all three Crankworx Slopestyle events, they will be awarded the Triple Crown of Slopestyle award and, perhaps most importantly, $50,000 in prize money. “Crankworx Whistler has always been what Slopestyle is to me; they’ve always had the raddest course. To see a series that has similar courses is what I've always wanted to see,” says Brandon Semenuk, three-time Red Bull Joyride champion. “Instead of riding a bunch of other courses, I’m just going to do the Crankworx events because that’s what I’m most stoked on.”
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 Brandon Semenuk wins his third Red Bull Joyride title in Whistler last year. |
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| Brandon Semenuk cinched his third Red Bull Joyride title in one run last year. |
 | Instead of riding a bunch of other courses, I'm just going to do the Crankworx events because that's what I'm most stoked on. -Brandon Semenuk |
Additionally the King and Queen of Crankworx will no longer be awarded at individual festivals, instead the battle for the prestigious title will continue for the season between all three locations. The official King and Queen will be awarded at Crankworx Whistler with each winner receiving a $25,000 prize. "For me personally, having competed in so many different disciplines, the fact that Pump Track, Dual Slalom, DH, and Enduro all go towards an overall (title) should really play to my strengths. It's a race within several races, and seems like an overall skills omnium—which is a cool concept,” says Jill Kintner, two-time Queen of Crankworx Whistler and four-time Crankworx Whistler Pump Track Champion.
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| Stevie Smith and Jill Kintner took home Crankworx King and Queen trophies in 2013. |
| It's a race within several races, and seems like an overall skills omnium - which is a cool concept. -Jill Kintner |
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| Jill Kintner discussing her Dual Slalom win with Brett Tippie in Whistler last year. |
The Crankworx events included in the race to be named King or Queen are:
Crankworx Rotorua: Australasian Whip-Off Champs, Mons Royale Dual Speed &Style, Rotorua Pump Track Challenge presented by RockShox, Crankworx Rotorua Downhill presented by iXS, GIANT Toa Enduro, Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle
Crankworx Les Deux Alpes: Official European Whip-Off Championships, Les Deux Alpes Pump Track presented by RockShox, D.S.&S., Crankworx Les 2 Alpes Slopestyle, Les 2 Alpes Downhill part of the iXS European Cup
Crankworx Whistler: Fat Tire Crit, CLIF Bar Dual Speed & Style, SRAM Canadian Open Enduro presented by Specialized, Fox Air DH, Official Whip-Off World Championships, Ultimate Pump Track Challenge presented by RockShox, GIANT Dual Slalom, Canadian Open XC, Canadian Open DH presented by iXS, Garbanzo DH, Slopestyle at Crankworx Whistler
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| Dual Speed & Style at each festival will now be a part of the overall Speed & Style World Championships. |
| There will be a $10,000 bonus if anyone individual can win all 4 Crankworx DH races. -Darren Kinnaird |
According to Darren Kinnaird, Crankworx World Tour Manager, the decision to award King and Queen based on a culmination of all three events is an effort “to connect the festivals together better.” The Downhill, Pump Track, and Dual Speed & Style disciplines have also been awarded Crankworx Series distinction, creating the Crankworx DH Championships, the Pump Track Challenge Series and the Speed & Style World Championships. “There will be a $10,000 bonus if any one individual can win all four Crankworx DH races - Crankworx Rotorua presented by iXS, Crankworx Les 2 Alpes DH part of the iXS European Cup, and then Fox Air DH and Canadian Open DH presented by iXS in Whistler” confirmed Darren.
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| If any one individual can win all four Crankworx DH races, they will be awarded an prize purse of $10,000. |
Buried deeper in the official press release is perhaps the most game changing news of all, prize money for athletes who make the podium at all Crankworx festivals will be the same for men and women in 2015. “It was just time. There are amazing things happening on two wheels right now and we should be able to recognize women for the feats they accomplish on an equal footing to men,” says Darren Kinnaird, Crankworx World Tour Manager. “Hopefully, this will encourage more women to get involved in competitive mountain biking.”
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| Crankworx organizers announced today that male and female athletes who make the podium in any event will receive equal prize money. |
| It was just time [to have equal prize money for men and women]. -Darren Kinnaird |
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We will have the opportunity to see the first round of the series in Rotorua from March 25 - 29. Les Deux Alpes in France will take place from July 9 - 12 and the culmination of the season will take place in Whistler, BC from August 7 - 16.
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not saying that i am against , i just think that a difference was and still is justified
I can't say im bitter that women get equal prize money, I mean that's awesome for them and really cool that crankworx can afford to do that. But there is significantly less competitors and the depth of the talent is nowhere near as high in the women's. This is professional sports, not a friendly game where everyone is equal just because.
Just my opinion but at least its the right opinion
Other than that, I love the crankworks idea. All riders should compete in all events... are you listening Christopher Akrigg?
Women may not have as much competitive depth of field, but to say that we havent earned equal pay because of that is just plain stupid. The women racing don't put in less time, energy, money or effort than their male counterparts, but should be punished because not as many women are driven to race as there are men?
Sorry, guys. That just doesn't fly. Thankfully, the great organizers at Crankworx feel similarly.
Why should male sport subsidise female?
I'm gonna get a dress on and go win me a crankworx!
Clearly, you've never taken an in-depth gander at the organizer pools behind some of the biggest races, teams and companies... Just because the race field isn't as big as the men's (yet), it doesn't mean there aren't just as many women contributing to the sport and the massive growth behind it. We absolutely earn every penny we make and, as I said before, there's no less risk, cost or effort involved for us women. Hopefully, the race numbers will grow and we can have serious amounts of women involved on the front end of the visibility spectrum. A lot of us are working towards that as we speak. But hey, if you want to throw a dress on and attempt to run with the badass ladies currently racing Crankworx, have at it. It would be awesome to watch them readjust your perspective.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/10293187
@ambatt stop spoiling my fun!
Firstly can I say that I would love to get women involved and I am not at all being sexist, I would love it if my daughter took up something like MX/DH etc but I still stand by my point
You cannot use the fact that some blokes have to check with there wives before making a large purchase as a point that women contribute to the biking industry, its just ridiculous
Females may well be the fastest growing market but that's because they are such a minority, its another pointless fact. If you have 10 million male riders and half a million female in 2014, but then you have 10.5 million male and 1 million female in 2015, both have had half a million growth but as the female figure has doubled its considered as a faster growing market, its not, its growing at the same rate (by the way those figures are an example of math's not actual figures).
.......cont
Same as women's football (soccer to you) over here, its getting rammed down our throat. They play to empty stadiums, no-one is interested in watching it on tv yet they are still getting paid decent money compared to the average wage of the country. However comparisons keep getting made that a top female player can get £50k a year whilst a top male can get £300k A WEEK and people keep saying its unfair. Its not unfair, 20/30 years a go when it was still being played in front of 60'000 people in stadiums all over the country the men were getting paid less than women get paid now, they had to play for years on crap wages until the sponsorships and tv rights came in.
Same for DH, the blokes have had to work for years getting the sport to where it is now, literally living hand to mouth and barely making a living for ages, just doing it for the love of the sport until the sponsorships started coming in, but hey, now its popular everyone jump in and get paid the same, why not
Secondly remember that a billion (with a B) isn't that impressive when it is in $$$ as your billion is a thousand million whilst the rest of the world its a million million, and also I have no intention of racing pro women at crankworx, they would destroy me, it was a throw away point about the number of competitors
However, I also prefer to see athletes make money in the sport through sponsors than prize money. Prize money is feast or famine, fodder for the top performers. Bad day = no pay. Sponsor money is sustaining and helps riders over longer periods. So I think I would rather see a company put $1 into rider sponsorship than $1 into a prize purse.
Super glad to see the girls getting equal pay too, that's the quickest way to get more girls into pro-level racing which gets other girls into the sport. Once we get a more equal participation between the sexes the sport will blow up with families taking bike trips much like they do ski trips.
That is nothing.
Come on