Chris Kovarik & Claire Buchar on top of the podium at Crankworx.
Its been an amazing Crankworx for the team with another 2 podiums for us. Crankworx is huge…there are so many people here so it is great exposure for the team.
Chris came second in the Air downhill event which is a tough race down the famous A-line trail. The course runs the length of A-Line, finishing at the base of the Bike Park with the legendary show-off zone, the GLC Drops. Widely recognized as the most celebrated DH course in mountain biking, with nearly 100 jumps. It is probably the most used trail here in Whistler. The track is so much fun to ride, as you are in the air as much as you are on the ground. It is a great track to build your confidence up with jumping.
However for the race these jumps become pretty tough as the riders are sprinting at everything and the big jumps become quite short as you have to try and keep it low and not over jump everything. It is such a physical race as the track does not descent much in vertical hirght - so it is sprinting, jumping and cornering for 4 1/2 minutes. Longer that most world cup races!
Chris posted an amazing time of 4:23.48 a second in front of 3rd place rider Andrew Neethling. Chris rode flat pedals and his full on DH bike. 4 times winner Brian Lopes took the win using his great BMX skills and a shorter travel bike being able to squash the jumps better and sprint faster. He is definitely the man to beat on A-line and knows what set up works!
RESULTS - AIR DOWNHILL
1. 4 Brian Lopes USA Ibis, Oakley, Marzocchi, Kenda, Bell 4:20.45 +0.00
2. 10 Chris Kovarik AUS Chain Reaction Cycles, Intense 4:23.48 +3.03
3. 8 Andrew Neethling RSA Trek World Racing 4:24.42 +3.97
4. 51 Jared Rando AUS Giant Bicycle 4:25.01 +4.56
5. 9 Marc Beaumont GBR GT Bicycles 4:27.28 +6.83
6. 11 Steve Smith CAN MS Evil RACING, Red Bull 4:27.93 +7.48
7. 54 Fabien Cousinie FRA KENDA MOREWOOD 4:28.15 +7.70
8. 5 Justin Leov NZL Trek World Racing 4:28.57 +8.12
9. 6 Brendan Fairclough GBR Monster Energy, Specialized, Mad Catz 4:29.50 +9.05
10. 37 Kirt Voreis USA 4:29.91 +9.46
24. 57 Ruaridh Cunningham GBR Chain Reaction Cycles, Intense 4:35.54 +15.09
Claire competed and won the Womensworx.
As you can see some of the jumps she did where massive. As she dropped in on the first kicker at the top of the boneyard my heart was in my mouth, but she handled it no problem. It was the biggest jump I have ever seen a woman do!
Claire has wrote a great report for us:
Wmenzworx is something that has been a part of Crankworx for a few years now to involve, support and encourage girls who ride mountain bikes. It consists of 2 fun and social events designed by girls for girls because, as you know, we aren’t made of the same stuff as guys.
Fellow rippers, Katrina Strand and Lisa Lefroy, are the girls behind the idea and they work closely with Andrea Kraft of Sombrio and the Whistler Bike Park to make it all happen.
The first event is a judged technical descent and a judged jump/trick section. Points are tallied from both sections and go towards an overall ranking and the prize money is generous!
Riders first had to pick creative lines through the rootiest, muddiest and most difficult section of the Whistler Bike Park on a trail called In Deep. We were judged on style, flow, speed and line choice. The judges were 2 World Cup racers, Duncan Riffle and Brad Benedict. I picked a cool line through the roots and mud and although I didn’t think I rode it my best, I scored the highest in that part of the competition!
We then moved on to Dirt Merchant, a trail full of table-tops, step-ups and drops. The judges here were pro slopestylers, Kyle Ebbet and Dave Smutok. We were judged again on style, flow, line choice but with the added element of jumps and tricks. I was able to pull off a solid run through with some whips, x-ups and a couple good no handers.
There was a decent turn out in both Pro and Amateur classes, with riders like Kathy Pruitt, Steph Nychka, Lorraine Blanchard and Leigh Donovan! The points were tallied but before they would tell us the results, the second event called The Gala had to take place.
The Gala is an invitational girls slopestyle event held in Whistler’s legendary Boneyard Slopesyle course. There were 5 of us invited and the course was open from the first huge drop to the Kona Wallride so we are talking about 6 features: big drop, step-up, Kokanee Wallride, step-down into a bowl to step-down out, gap jump and the Kona Wallride. I kept it smooth and styley and just focused on hitting my lines and having fun with it. It was pretty nerve-racking hitting stuff for the first time in front of all those people but once we got that out of the way, it was fun. We got only an hour or so of practice and the final was a half hour jam session where the competitors (us) judge each other. At the end of the session, each rider votes for another and the one who gets the most votes takes all: $1000!!!
Unfortunately, by the time the final jam session came around, there were only 2 of us left due to some injuries. It was gnarly out there! So Steph Nychka and I jammed it up for the crowd and the big screens and split the cash.
The media exposure was awesome. TV, photographers, filmers and webcasting and it was fun to do an event that is not just racing, but something in which you can express some all-round skills.
And how stoked was I when they called me up to the podium as the winner of the Womenzworx event and co-winner of The Gala! Not a bad day.
The next event on my agenda is the Canadian Open which takes place Sunday. The track looks sick. Wish me luck!
Claire.
Photography by Yorick Carroux
Whistler – The Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill made Miranda Miller start talking to herself. The young Squamish rider roared to victory in the Pro Women’s category at the event staged on Sunday (Aug. 9), the second day of Kokanee Crankworx action, but the lengthy course in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park presented plenty of challenges.
After claiming the win over France’s Emmeline Ragot and American Kathy Pruitt with her time of 16 minutes, 32.32 seconds, Miller said her tiring ride through 3,400 vertical feet of rocky and rooty terrain between the tip and the toe of the bike park got her talking.
“It was actually the first race that I’ve talked out loud to myself, just saying stuff out loud like ‘keep going’ and ‘pedal’… Maybe that worked, I don’t know,” Miller mused after collecting her winning cheque for $1,000.
Miller, who is recovering after being hospitalized with an acute renal condition, said she had only been cleared to compete in one race this week, so she chose her “favourite one.” Though she said she was “hurting pretty bad” in some spots on the course that took riders from behind the Garbanzo hut to the finish at the base of the park, Miller said she tried to pedal hard to make up for any bobbles.
“It’s a long race, so obviously there’s going to be mistakes. I tried to pedal a lot,” Miller said.
Kiwi rider Justin Leov blasted to the fastest time of the day, and the Pro Men’s win, with his 13:44.55 ride. Australian stars Chris Kovarik and Sam Hill finished second and third, respectively, followed by Marc Beaumont of Great Britain, as all of the top four Pro Men’s riders cracked the 14-minute mark.
Leov said the “pretty tough” course was much longer than a World Cup track, so he knew he shouldn’t go out too fast at the start. Although he stuck to his strategy and delivered a smooth ride, while trying not to make mistakes and picking up his pace as the run went on, he felt himself starting to lose sensations as his focus narrowed down to the finish line.
“The last minute was probably the hardest — I was ready to be finished, (and) just holding onto the handlebars was the toughest thing,” Leov said.
Kovarik was happy with his smoking time of 13:46.61, but said the riders go through a lot of pain in those 14 minutes.
“Your heart rate’s doing (about) 200 beats per minute for 15 minutes, there’s no rest. There’s dribble coming out of your mouth, and sweat covering your goggles. As soon as you stop pedaling you think, ‘Well, that’s a few seconds,’ so you’ve just got to keep pedaling,” Kovarik said.
Leov said he was happy to have delivered on his Crankworx goal of winning the Garbanzo downhill event, riding in the mountain biking Mecca that is Whistler.
“There are some other resorts in Europe that try and do a similar thing, but no one’s pulled it off like Whistler,” Leov said.
Paul Stevens was the top Whistler rider in the Pro Men’s division, finishing 16th with his time of 14:32.83, while Reuben Miller, Jesse Murphy and Trevor Burke finished 21st, 22nd and 24th, respectively.
Whistler’s Katrina Strand and Kari Mancer finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Pro Women division, followed by Beth Parsons in 12th.
Whistler’s Tyler Allison finished second to Calgary’s Luke Stevens in the Junior Men’s division, while Nicholas Geddes sped to seventh in the category.
Pemberton’s Jamie Hill was a beaming bronze medallist in the Senior Women’s category, finishing behind North Vancouver’s Celina Moore and Vancouver’s Carolyn Kavanagh. Whistler’s Carrie Poole and Kaz McGill finished fourth and eighth, respectively, and Squamish’s Meghan Illingworth finished fifth.
In the Master Men division, Steve Murphy, Joel Robinson and Danny Milner formed the top three finishers, followed by Pemberton’s Charles Brown in fourth and Whistler’s Dominic Balik and Todd Hellinga in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Whistler’s Matt King rode into the top 10 in the Senior Men’s division, finishing ninth.
Megan Grittani-Livingston mlivingston@whistlerquestion.com
The penultimate round of the world cup was held in the french speaking ski resort of Bromont, Quebec which turned out to be a great exciting and close race. The resort has chairlifts on both sides of the mountain and is open throughout the summer for mountain biking. In the last 2 years over $200,000 has been spent by the resort in course improvements so it is a good venue for a race.
The track was really tough, very rocky and steep in places with some hard pedaling sections, keeping your speed and momentum was really important as the track was pretty short. The riders with the fastest times could not make any mistakes or ease off anywhere.
The team had another great weekend. The weather was up and down throughout the 3 days of practice and competition so mud tires were on and off and suspension settings being constantly changed. We received some great new THE mudguards just in time for practice thanks to Gregorio from VSI which really helped us out when the rain came down.
Everyone qualified really well so we were positive for some good results in the finals. Claire said she has a tough run in her final making a lot of mistakes but ended up 7th which was really great and puts her in contention for a top 10 overall if she has a good ride in the World Cup finals in Schladming.
Ruaridh’s bad luck continued and his rear wheel slid on a wet rock on the upper part of the course causing him to high side and go down pretty hard on his head, so that was his chances over. Matt, after qualifying in 16th was looking for a top 15 result which he was on the top half of the course but lost some time on the bottom half and with the times being so close he slipped down to finish 22nd but still a great result.
Chris was riding great again and qualified in 6th place less than 2 seconds down on the fastest time so he was focused and his goal of a podium was definately on. On the top half of the course he was going really well with a great split time but lost a little momentum on the lower parts of the course - Chris went through the speed trap with the fastest time of the day. He said he felt like he would slide out if he had pushed any harder on the flat turns on the lower part of the course. Chris ended up 8th with a time of 2.34.44 just over 1 second from that elusive podium position. We were happy with this as Chris is back up to speed with the top guys and is looking good for the World Championships in his home country, Australia, in a months time.
Mens DH results:
1 MINNAAR Greg 2:31.65
2 BAREL Fabien 2:32.11
3 HILL Samuel 2:32.28
4 ATHERTON Gee 2:32.68
5 GWIN Aaron 2:33.06
6 HANNAH Michael 2:33.32
7 PEAT Steve 2:33.48
8 KOVARIK Chris 2:34.44
9 BRYCELAND Josh 2:35.72
10 FAIRCLOUGH Brendan 2:35.74
22 SIMMONDS Matt 2:40.76
60 CUNNINGHAM Ruaridh 2:49.79
Womens DH results:
1 JONNIER Sabrina 2:58.28
2 PUGIN Floriane 3:00.92
3 SUEMASA Mio 3:01.23
4 MOSELEY Tracy 3:02.24
5 GROS Céline 3:04.24
6 GATTO Micayla 3:06.31
7 BUCHAR Claire 3:06.75
8 RAGOT Emmeline 3:06.97
9 SIEGENTHALER Emilie 3:07.55
10 PRUITT Kathleen 3:09.06
4X didn’t go too well for Lucas. He was riding great in practice and looking good in his qualifying run when disaster struck, as he landed the big pro section double jump and hit the right hand berm and his back tire exploded going up the face of the triple jump. This locked up the back wheel as his tube came out and he went down really hard onto his head for the second week in a row. So that was Lucas out of the finals.
There was a lot of crashes in the heats with a lot of top riders going out in the first few rounds. Joost Wichman took a deserved win getting a great start and leading from the gate. UKs Dan Atherton went down really hard in the first turn with Michael Prokop injuring his shoulder.
In the Womens final, UKs Fionn Griffiths won with a great passing move in the first turn.
The team ended up 3rd in the team standings for this race in Bromont and kept our 8th place overall in the world team rankings rankings.
- “Should have tried a little harder but was happy to stay on the bike 6th ain’t bad when you’re having a bad week”.
Chris Kovarik via Facebook
Here’s some awesome pics by Damian McArthur
Click the link to check out his folio Damian McArthur Folio
Just a quick note…. Chris has just won the first race of the Mega Avalanche week - the Sprint Avalanche on the French National track in Oz en Oisans, beating last months World Cup winner Fabien Barel by 2 seconds.
Ruaridh was in the top ten and Matt finished in the top fifteen - Julien had to go home as his hand has still not healed properly.
Claire came second in the womens event and our team manager busted out his bike for the first time this year to finished 3rd in the Masters (although 1st Master in the Super Cup). Bring on the Mega!
TOP 50 RESULTS FROM THE SPRINT AVALANCHE
Clt Catégorie (Clt) Dos. Nom et prénom Pays Manche 1 Manche 2 Temps Ecart
1 PRIO (1) 7 KOVARIK Chris Australie 4:05.23 6:15.02 4:05.23
2 PRIO (2) 1 BAREL Fabien France 4:10.48 4:06.80 4:06.80 1.57
3 PRIO (3) 15 RANKIN Nathan Nouvelle-Zélande 4:06.89 4:10.28 4:06.89 1.66
4 PRIO (4) 5 PEDEMANAUD Fabien France 6:00.91 4:08.06 4:08.06 2.83
5 PRIO (5) 8 SPAGNOLO Damien France 4:14.04 4:11.49 4:11.49 6.26
6 SENI (1) 37 SCOLES Matthew Nouvelle Zélande 5:10.57 4:11.58 4:11.58 6.35
7 SENI (2) 11 GEORGES Pierre Charles France 4:15.97 4:12.17 4:12.17 6.94
8 PRIO (6) 52 BIGONI Joris France 4:13.87 4:12.68 4:12.68 7.45
9 SENI (3) 41 RIVOIRE Simon France 4:20.06 4:13.66 4:13.66 8.43
10 PRIO (7) 16 CUNNINGHAM Ruarich Grande Bretagne 4:23.61 4:14.71 4:14.71 9.48
11 SENI (4) 80 DI PASQUALE Charly SUNN France 4:19.50 4:15.16 4:15.16 9.93
12 PRIO (8) 47 VINK Nico TREK HOPE TREK Belgique 4:21.63 4:15.39 4:15.39 10.16
13 PRIO (9) 13 SIMMONDS Matt Grande Bretagne 4:15.86 8:35.06 4:15.86 10.63
14 SENI (5) 38 PAYET Christophe Reunion 4:20.41 4:17.61 4:17.61 12.38
15 SENI (6) 128 BARET Fabrice Reunion 4:22.87 4:17.70 4:17.70 12.47
16 SENI (7) 383 REILHAN Gaetan France 4:21.66 4:17.82 4:17.82 12.59
17 SENI (8) 18 CARNINO Matthieu France 4:19.17 4:19.15 4:19.15 13.92
18 SENI (9) 154 VERRIER Benjamin France 4:25.10 4:20.79 4:20.79 15.56
19 SENI (10) 36 GALLEAN Mathieu France 4:21.71 4:21.01 4:21.01 15.78
20 SENI (11) 55 DERONZIER Esteban France 4:21.05 4:26.64 4:21.05 15.82
21 MA30 (1) 434 GRANDIEU Stéphane France 4:21.50 4:28.86 4:21.50 16.27
22 SENI (12) 67 CASANOVA Remy France 4:21.76 4:23.77 4:21.76 16.53
23 SENI (13) 39 TISSIER Alexandre France 4:28.52 4:22.22 4:22.22 16.99
24 SENI (14) 45 BOUSQUET AlexisFrance 4:26.81 4:23.12 4:23.12 17.89
25 SENI (15) 21 BENARD Mathieu Reunion 4:23.41 4:27.91 4:23.41 18.18
26 SENI (16) 126 DROMART Etienne France 4:26.54 4:23.63 4:23.63 18.40
27 SENI (17) 40 PAYET Jerome France 4:23.85 4:31.21 4:23.85 18.62
28 JUNI (1) 29 DEVOUASSOUX Roman France 4:23.99 4:25.71 4:23.99 18.76
29 SENI (18) 24 ROUX VictorFrance 4:28.08 4:24.05 4:24.05 18.82
30 SENI (19) 42 REGNIER Jordan France 4:24.08 4:25.06 4:24.08 18.85
31 CADE (1) 48 BRUNI Loic France 4:26.80 4:24.18 4:24.18 18.95
32 SENI (20) 22 DELSOUILLIER Loïc France 4:30.81 4:24.21 4:24.21 18.98
33 SENI (21) 419 TAMANINI Sylvain France 4:26.52 4:24.26 4:24.26 19.03
34 JUNI (2) 28 RACAUD Arthur France 4:30.55 4:24.29 4:24.29 19.06
35 SENI (22) 79 WOLFE Daniel Irlande 4:34.75 4:24.37 4:24.37 19.14
36 SENI (23) 416 QUET Arthur France 4:25.67 4:25.11 4:25.11 19.88
37 SENI (24) 78 WOLFE Gerard Irlande 4:30.61 4:25.71 4:25.71 20.48
38 SENI (25) 3 GIORDANENGO Aurélien France 4:26.38 4:26.38 21.15
39 JUNI (3) 23 PIAZZON Loic France 4:30.01 4:26.57 4:26.57 21.34
40 SENI (26) 299 UEBERSCHLAG Quentin France 4:27.31 4:32.07 4:27.31 22.08
41 SENI (27) 35 LOCQUET Kevin France 4:28.88 4:27.63 4:27.63 22.40
42 MA30 (2) 423 CLOSSET Pascal Belgique 4:34.66 4:28.70 4:28.70 23.47
43 JUNI (4) 349 ANDRIEU Clement France 4:36.48 4:28.74 4:28.74 23.51
44 MA30 (3) 54 PAGE Nigel GB 4:32.60 4:28.86 4:28.86 23.63
45 SENI (28) 414 GEBBIE Joel France 4:31.35 4:29.13 4:29.13 23.90
46 SENI (29) 19 WOLTER Florent France 4:29.31 4:29.31 24.08
47 SENI (30) 97 RIVIERE Nicolas Reunion 4:34.43 4:29.36 4:29.36 24.13
48 JUNI (5) 26 BROUSSARD Valentin France 4:29.81 4:31.84 4:29.81 24.58
49 SENI (31) 87 VARNIERE Gaetan France 4:34.37 4:29.83 4:29.83 24.60
SUPER CUP TOP 10
Clt Catégorie (Clt) Dos. Nom et prénom Pays Multisport Licence Temps Ecart
1 PRIO (1) 7 KOVARIK Chris Australie aus19780301 4:01.72
2 PRIO (2) 1 BAREL Fabien France FRA19800726 4:03.91 2.19
3 PRIO (3) 15 RANKIN Nathan Nouvelle-Zélande nzl 19790430 4:06.28 4.56
4 PRIO (4) 8 SPAGNOLO Damien France 2473342035 4:06.91 5.19
5 SENI (1) 37 SCOLES Matthew Nouvelle Zélande nzl19890605 4:07.27 5.55
6 SENI (2) 11 GEORGES Pierre Charles France 1588109053 4:08.25 6.53
7 PRIO (5) 5 PEDEMANAUD Fabien France 264320220 4:08.41 6.69
8 PRIO (6) 52 BIGONI Joris France 247434701 4:10.35 8.63
9 PRIO (7) 16 CUNNINGHAM Ruaridh Grande Bretagne GBR19890215 4:10.95 9.23
10 SENI (3) 383 REILHAN Gaetan France 1330015013 4:13.21 11.49
