CRANKWORX OFFICIAL─The Crankworx World Tour will host 29 days of competition in four global locations this year, delivering the most hours of mountain biking coverage on air today.
The final dates are now set. Crankworx will broadcast from Rotorua, New Zealand, March 25 to April 2, before moving to Les Gets, France, June 14-18, and Innsbruck, Austria, June 21-25. The World Tour then returns to its Canadian home base of Whistler, British Columbia for its traditional dates of August 11-20 for what’s anticipated to be one of its biggest showdowns.
Szymon Godziek throws down a cliffhanger backflip in the Crankworx Les Gets Best Trick competition. Photo: Sean St. Denis/Crankworx
“Last year, we saw a really great battle for the King and Queen of Crankworx and, with the addition of Crankworx Innsbruck for 2017, we are seeing even more athletes committing to the season-long race for the Crown.
“Every year there is $25,000 up for grabs for both the King and Queen and the titles really reward the best all-round mountain bikers in the world. So it’s definitely caught the athletes’ attention and we know the competition is going to be stiff,” says Darren Kinnaird, General Manager of the Crankworx World Tour.
Loic Bruni pins it to the win in the Crankworx Rotorua Downhill presented by iXS. Photo by Clint Trahan/Crankworx
With the World Tour expansion into its first German-speaking country comes additional Crankworx coverage. All four locations will host at least eight hours of live broadcast online, through Crankworx.com and Pinkbike, and all four events in the quest for the Triple Crown of Slopestyle will be featured on Red Bull TV. In select countries, fans will also find coverage on regular network television, both live and after the festivals.
“Our continued commitment to engage mountain biking fans around the world with high-quality mountain biking coverage, across the widest variety of gravity-fed mountain biking disciplines, is unmatched.
“We provide live and post-event highlight shows of slopestyle, downhill, dual speed and style, pump track and enduro. And for 2017, we will venture further into network television, exposing the sport to entirely new audiences,” says Kinnaird.
The crowds at Crankworx Whistler reached 30,000 people in 2016. Photo: Scott Robarts/Crankworx
Nicholi Rogatkin lands ‘The Twister’ at Crankworx Rotorua, a full 1080 rotation. Photo: Clint Trahan with editing by Oli Da Costa/Crankworx
The World Tour opens on the flowy dirt gold of Rotorua, where volcanic geysers punctuate breathtaking lake views and dense fern forests. The riding is fast and fun, and the festival has grown to include two weekends as the GIANT Toa Enduro, which opens the week-and-a-half-long festival, becomes the inaugural round of the 2017 Enduro World Series.
“Expanding the festival to nine days of fun is a natural move for the event, especially with the return of the Enduro World Series. Being the first event on the international mountain biking calendar, means we have grown at an exponential rate, and a longer festival just means more awesome days of world-class riding with some of the best athletes on the planet,” says Tak Mutu, Crankworx Rotorua event organizer.
Thomas Genon pulls out a final trick against competitor Jakub Vencl on his way down the CLIF Bar Dual Speed & Style at Crankworx Whistler. Photo: Clint Trahan/Crankworx
Visiting the sharp peaks of the Alps, in Les Gets, France, for stop two, the World Tour then takes in the unprecedented expanse of lift-accessed riding in the Porte du Soleil. As a founding location of gravity-mountain biking, Les Gets brings fans to the heart of the sport and the site of a tour favourite, the Crankworx Les Gets Downhill presented by iXS.
“We are certainly looking forward to launching the first European Crankworx leg and building the audience of loyal mountain biking fans who came out for the first year ready to cheer their heroes—in drier weather conditions, of course,” says Benjamin Mugnier, Crankworx Les Gets organizer.
Coming into the finish for the win, Remi Thirion defeats the mud in the Crankworx Les Gets Downhill presented by iXS. Photo: Sean St. Denis/Crankworx
As a destination well-versed in hosting large mountain events, Innsbruck is poised to make its mark on the 2017 World Tour, introducing Crankworx and a new bike park for 2017. The internationally-renown trail-building team Gravity Logic, who carved famous Whistler Mountain Bike Park trails like A-Line and Dirt Merchant, are building the trails, and Innsbruck’s many mountain lovers are expecting to be riding come Crankworx.
“The world-class mountain biking competitions Crankworx will bring are definitely going to catch the eye of Innsbruck’s many mountain sports enthusiasts, just as we expect international athletes, and spectators, will be fascinated by Innsbruck and its alpine atmosphere,” says Karin Seiler-Lall, Innsbruck Tourism CEO and host for Crankworx Innsbruck.
Mountain biking above the city of Innsbruck
The new trails will be built in Bikepark Innsbruck, on Nockspitze Mountain, overlooking the historic city centre. The park will serve as ground zero for the slopestyle, pump track, and dual speed and style events, as well as the expo and demo zones, while the downhill starts in the park and spreads to the neighbouring village of Götzens.
Whistler will be the 10-day culminating celebration of mountain biking Crankworx fans love and expect. For 14 years, Crankworx Whistler has defined this sport as a place where industry, athletes, and fans align to establish what mountain biking means and where it is heading.
Bas van Steenbergen fist pumps his victory in the Fox air DH after waiting through 20 riders for the win at Crankworx Whistler. Photo: Clint Trahan/Crankworx
