For all three riders on the podium in today’s Crankworx Innsbruck Slopestyle, it was the realization of a dream. On the third step, Dawid Godziek (POL), a wildcard entry invited to the contest just six weeks ago. On the second, Emil Johansson (SWE), who this time last year was in and out of hospital, unable to ride, with no assurance he would be able to compete at same level again. On the top, Brett Rheeder (CAN), who wrote a new story for himself today. I’ve been in this position so many times. I come down on my first run, I’m…
Author: Tomas
The track was new, the location different, but the top of the box in today’s iXS Innsbruck Downhill presented by Raiffeisen Club was a familiar sight. Taking her third downhill win in three years at Crankworx Innsbruck, Tracey Hannah (AUS) clocked the fastest time of the day for the women, with a 3:22.46, over eight seconds faster than second place finisher Camille Balanche (SUI). The win is the second Crankworx DH win of the season for Hannah. Brook MacDonald (NZL) takes his first DH win at Crankworx’s Austrian stop, also adding to the momentum he built after winning the downhill at…
In a battle reminiscent of Slopestyle days of old, two Crankworx legends found themselves going head-to-head for gold in today’s Mons Royale Speed & Style at Crankworx Innsbruck. After charging hard and going big up against some of the fastest and most stylish riders in the sport today, Martin Söderström (SWE) and Kyle Strait (USA) were the last men standing. In the end, Strait went down on the first jump of the second matchup, and the Big Swede came out on top in the discipline that’s become his focus at Crankworx. Martin was breathless after four rounds of competition in…
Kialani Hines (USA) and Adrien Loron (FRA) are each riding a high after pulling out all the mental and physical stops at Crankworx Innsbruck Day 2, each closing it out with wins in the RockShox Innsbruck Pump Track Challenge. I’ve been up since 5. Intense all day. I’m ready for bed.- Kialani Hines Both Hines and Loron raced earlier in the day in the 100% Dual Slalom Innsbruck, with Hines making it all the way through to finals. Ultimately she came up short against Vaea Verbeeck (CAN), but tonight’s competition was all hers. “I had to make up a bit of time…
The 100% Dual Slalom Innsbruck wrapped today with a second Crankworx Dual Slalom win of the season in the women’s race, and an upset courtesy of a relative newcomer. Vaea Verbeeck (CAN) takes her second Crankworx Dual Slalom win in 2019, while Matthew Sterling (USA) takes his first ever elite win. “It’s an unreal feeling,” said the 17-year-old. Sterling is best known as a junior racer on the DH circuit. He raced in the elite category in the Dual Slalom at Crankworx Rotorua earlier this season, finishing in 11th. “I did not expect this at all.” For her part, Verbeeck…
Like the eagle on Austria’s coat of arms, wings outstretched, some of the best riders in the world have taken flight, launching Day 1 of Crankworx Innsbruck 2019. The Official European Whip-Off Championships presented by SPANK kicked off the first day of action, giving those on site a taste of what’s to come. The event crowned its first two victors, with Kaos Seagrave (GBR) and Casey Brown (CAN) claiming the coveted championship belt. For those following the action from home, Crankworx Innbruck takes off tomorrow as the action goes live to the world. Over the five days of the festival, five events…
Mountain bike season is hitting its stride for 2019 as rubber gets ready to hit dirt in Europe. June will feature four weekends of the best of the best across all disciplines of gravity-fueled mountain biking. Top downhillers will face off twice. Enduro experts will get their fourth test of the season. And the best of all worlds will join with the global mountain bike community, converging for the second stop of the Crankworx World Tour. Invited rider lists for Crankworx Innsbruck are now available: crankworx.com/start-list-results Here are some tops contenders who’re heading to Europe and will be on lining up at the…
“The one and only underground enduro trail in the world” – this is the slogan that advertises Black Hole Trail. Just by letting You ride a bike underground, suggests that it will be interesting. But after riding on this trail, I can say that this is not only just a cheap marketing slogan. Former mine Pece, thanks to the efforts of builders and shapers, has a genuinely amazing attraction for bikers. The Black Hole Trail is located in the Slovenian town of Mezica, in the Koroska region, in the closed mine Pece (Petzen). Until the early 1990s, lead and zinc…
Slovenia, despite being a very small country, has many bike parks. Kope is located near Bike Park Pohorje and it is a relatively new place, and because of that not everybody know about it existence. It do not have many trails yet, but after seeing the video that promotes the bike park I knew that I must visit it and try it myself. In the end, it turned out that here I found one of the best bike park trails that I have ridden in the entire 2018 season! The ski resort, in which the Bike Park Kope is located,…
What a blast! The 13th iXS Dirt Masters Festival has raised the bar once again thanks to the high variety of contests with stacked line-ups and a stoked crowd on the first two days. The biggest German gravity event of the year welcomed thousands of spectators to watch world-class contests and athletes go head-to-head in near perfect weather conditions. With two days still to go, we still have jam-packed hours of mountain bike action ahead of us! The first two days at the iXS Dirt Masters Festival saw thousands of spectators and hundreds of athletes and their families celebrate their…
The anticipation to ride bikes after winter grows stronger and stronger throughout the off season. Most people in BC spend the winter chasing deep and dry powder, which I have also rediscovered a love for in recent years. While snowboarding through steep tree runs or big wide open alpine features you have the freedom to go where you want and ride the terrain how you see it. My favourite part of mountain biking has always been big mountain riding and free riding in general.This more than likely comes from growing up on a board where snow eliminates the need for…
4 days – May 30 to June 2. More than 2,500 mountain bikers of 24 different nationalities. Expo Area, Test Tracks, Downhill, Whip-Offs, Slopestyle, Pumptrack, Enduro, Bike Tricks and much more. Fabio Wibmer, Josh Bryceland, Erik Fedko, Lukas Knopf, Sam Pilgrim, Szymon Godziek, Max Fredriksson, among several others. With the bike season now in full swing, all paths lead to Bikepark Winterberg in Germany: in just two days’ time the biggest gravity event in Europe finally gets under way. On Thursday the action starts with the young guns taking to the stage. The Specialized Rookies Downhill Cup #1 will see the shredders of tomorrow…
This famous Tuscan venue – its debut in the Enduro World Series dates back to 2013 – makes a big come-back in the international mountain bike scene with a Superenduro EWS Qualifier event of the highest level; a fired-up competition that, despite the rain, highlights the potential of this riding destination, a venue that never fails to amaze. The race course ‘Satisfaction’ is the right word to describe the feeling shared by all those who participated in the Punta Ala Round of Superenduro 2019, last weekend. Since Saturday’s Open Practice, that took place without the help of shuttles, over a ground saturated…
While I was riding bike in Slovenia and talking with local riders about bike parks and places to ride, pretty much everybody mentioned one place that I must go and check out. That place that everybody was talking about was Bike Park Krvavec. It is located in the very center of the country, about 30 km from capital city Ljubljana. It is quite an unusual bike park, but definitely worth visiting, and now I know why everybody was talking about it in such good words. Bike Park Krvavec Why is it an unusual Bike Park? When You are looking at…