Not for the faint hearted this one. The first of the three Crankworx Whistler downhill races was a gruelling 6.5km affair. Liked by some feared by many. With the fastest times still over 12 minutes, there is plenty of time to think on this course. This race is traditionally one that New Zealand has been pretty good at, and this year was no different.
Tracey Hannah took away the win, over Whistlerite Claire Buchar coming in second. Emilie Sieganthaler rounded out the womens podium. This track would have required great discipline and stamina, knowing when to push, when to rest, and how to control your breathing.
Tracey Hannah on her way to another Victory. It’s been a good year for Tracey.
Local Claire Buchar with the track knowledge.
More podiums for Emilie Siegenthaler.
Our very own Sam Blenkinsop was looking good for the win, when a crash saw him narrowly missing out to Marcelo Guitierrez Villegas, the tall Columbian, who took his FIFTH win at the event. That’s a great streak! Jack Moir once again got back on the podium, where he must be getting pretty comfortable, with a solid third. Eddie ‘the eagle’ Masters took fourth (unfortunately not a world cup podium, so only the top three get to stand in front of the waiting crowd), followed by OG Chris Kovarik. Rupert Walker scraped into the top ten also with a tasty tenth.
On the way to the fifth victory in a row.
So close Blenki.
Jack Moir getting so used to that podium lately.
A solid 4th for Eddie Masters today.
The OG Chris Kovarik. Still got it.
A top ten for Rupert Chapman.
A solid warm up for the riders, and another step towards King of Crankworx glory for Jack Moir.
A little more of the action below:
5th place Junior Jacob Tooke.
An iconic rock roll of Garbo.
Rocks, roots and wooden features shape this section of the track.
Nik Nestoroff, the Intense Team junior, with another junior win.
Canadian Rider, Colt Hoyle.
One good root section deserves another.
Style even after 4km. Well done Shane Trento.
What a lovely smile Sam!
Blenki.
Big shout out to all the other Kiwis who competed in the Garbanzo, especially Steve Murphy who on his 26″ Zerode G2 single-speed took the win in Masters 40+ men by a full minute and Shannon Kingi who was 3rd in the same age group
Hats off to Steve who won Garbanzo again and his amazing wife who took the women’s one. Such great ambassadors for the sport. They spent time taking to our boys at Crankworx about race lines and strategies for the Garbanzo track.