Your Essential Guide To Crankworx Les Gets 2016

We've been counting down the hours since Rotorua, New Zealand, for the next and newest stop of the Crankworx World Tour 2016. Having said goodbye to Les Deux Alpes - the original European stop of the World Tour - for 2016 it's all about Les Gets, France.

This year, the French Alps saw some heavy snowfall at the end of the winter season, with flurries and heavy rain well in to late Spring, but despite difficult conditions on the mountainside, the construction of the new Crankworx site went into full swing a couple of weeks ago.

As with any Crankworx stop, we'll be seeing a spectrum of riding taking place, from pumptrack and dual speed and style, to slopestyle and finally downhill. And let's not forget the perennial crowd-pleaser which is whip-offs, which always has a reputation for being a wild affair compared to the other more straight-laced events.

Les Gets is the gateway to an incredible network of trails, catering to all abilities. One of the resort's strongest points is its proximity to Geneva - being only about 1 hour's drive away - not to mention it being a long-established resort for mountain biking in Europe, catering to all budgets and offering plenty of accommodation and nightlife options (especially in Morzine, just a few minutes drive away).

Statistically speaking, June has higher rainfall than July in Les Gets but the Alps are an unpredictable beast at the best of times and with climates so varied all over the world, the organisers took a punt to host Crankworx Les Gets in mid June. Will the gamble pay off? Turns out it’s pretty rainy this week, with more than a few alpine thunderstorms forecast just for good measure.

No, it's not the latest de-branded 2017 prototype. Best start getting used to seeing muddy bike shots from Les Gets all week like this one from seasonaire, Chris Dower.

With current King of Crankworx leader Matt Walker out of contention as a result of an injury sustained at Fort William a couple of weeks ago, all eyes are now on the battle between Frenchman Tomas Lemoine and Czech powerhouse, Tomas Slavik, who are tied for second place on 190 points following Rotorua, each with a chance to extend their lead in the overall title race. Lemoine will certainly be entering more events than Slavik, but will Slavik throw caution to the wind (and probably rain), to try to beat him? Or might we see another contender surge through the field, such as current tied fourth place multi-disciplinarians, Adrien Loron and Sam Blenkinsop?

For the ladies, Jill Kintner is leading the battle for Queen of Crankworx, with a lead of 125 points over Casey Brown in second. With a relatively small margin between them, expect to see Casey stepping it up to try to surpass Jill on the field of play. Likewise, you can never discount the 2015 Queen of Crankworx, Anneke Beerten, currently in third, or Tracey Hannah in fourth. And with the Swiss border just a few miles from Les Gets, could Emilie Siegenthaler - close behind in fifth - grasp what is virtually a home advantage and make this a 5-way tussle?

The Slopestyle course is dressed to impressed thanks to an 11-person build crew. The track starts with a Whistler Joyride-like North Shore run-in and takes in nine features, including two drops, a log ride and three dirt jumps mid-way through the course. The track also features a pretty unique step-on/step-off with a wallride suspended between the two. It should make for an epic showdown on Saturday.

With Les Gets sadly having had little exposure for many years on the World Cup circuit, we didn’t have much luck trying to get hold of riders who once raced the epic track all those years ago. Through the power of carrier pigeon though, we did manage to get hold of one rider, to ask him what the track was like back then and what he thinks about Crankworx coming to town.

In retrospect, Peaty has had a pretty successful time in Les Gets (just don’t mention the 2004 World Champs - see below). Probably the most dramatic win was in 2002, when he made local hero Fabien Barel squirm in the hotseat as he charged down the track on his Orange, crossing the line half a second up from the Frenchman, taking the win and the World Cup title too.

Fast-forward two years, and the French were ready to bite back at the 2004 World Champs, held in Les Gets. Peaty was the last man on track, with Barel sitting in the hot seat. The tension was tremendous as Peaty took to the track and began to reel in Barel’s time. Fastest at the split it was all going so well. Too well perhaps. Hidden from the video cameras, though captured by photographers, Peaty crashed virtually within sight of the finish line whilst still 'green'. Barel's boundless joy contrasted with Peaty's utter dejection is an image still burnt into dowhnill racing's memory, but that, as they say, is history.

Starting on the Mont Chery side of Les Gets, the new downhill track will incorporate some elements from the old World Cup/World Championship track from all those years ago. With views of Europe's highest summit, Mont Blanc, visible from the top section, spectators and riders alike will be treated to stunning action and scenery, although the aforementioned weather might well have other ideas.

Hey, it’s the French Alps so there are cows pretty much everywhere, with less fences to keep them in check as compared to the managed paddocks we saw in Leogang last weekend. In Les Gets, the cows are often free to wander amongst the riders, across the tracks and pretty much wheresoever they please - Portes du Soleil area regulars will know the same goes for the infamous Chatel road gap, with cows swapped for goats in Les Lindarets. This can obviously cause some alarm when they’re hiding behind jumps...

Les Gets sits within the Portes du Soleil area, a destination synonymous with Brits riding all summer long, and it's been their home away from home for over a decade. Away from the Crankworx festivities there's hundreds of miles of singletrack, downhill and enduro trails to be had, with lift access transporting riders all the way to Switzerland and back. In total, this network of trails forms Europe's biggest bike park, with the region covering 12 village-resorts offering over 600km of trails and 21 chair, gondola and cable-car lifts. Morzine (or 'Manzine' to some, due to the historical abundance of male riders over female ones), is Les Gets' sister resort and is famed both for being a summertime training ground for World Cup riders, and home to some riders all year round.

Although he's not a World Cup rider, here's 'Brit Abroad' David Hill showcasing the Portes du Soleil region in one of his epic GoPro edits from last year. It looks rad in the sunshine that's for sure!

Stay tuned to Pinkbike.com for all the latest news from Crankworx Les Gets 2016 throughout the weekend, including live broadcasts, photo stories and tech content.