Reigning Queen of Crankworx, American Jill Kintner, is heading into June with an all-defining mission: fend off Australian Olympian Caroline Buchanan.
Jill Kintner
After racing her entire 2016 season with a substantial lead, just 25 points now separate Kintner and Buchanan in the race to secure the Crown and be known as the best all-round mountain bike athlete in the world—and Buchanan is out front.
Jill Kintner:
NZ wasn’t perfect, this time, (but)I have faith in the amount of work I put into training and my riding ability for the rest of the series. It’s good to have a challenge, and it will motivate me to refine my skills, and put what I learned to use.
Kintner charged through the 2016 season, taking her Crown by a considerable berth. Yet while 25 points is hardly falling behind, she does find herself in new territory, facing a competitor primed by the sting of an Olympic fourth place. Nine years Kintner’s junior, Buchanan won both final rounds on the Rotorua pump track handily and regained her composure after a clapstick incident in the semi-final heat with ease.
Caroline Buchanan
Caroline Buchanan:
I was really motivated for 2017 to be a year all about #livetheride. After not succeeding at two Olympic games, my focus is to not chase the podiums and the destination so much, but ride the journey and live it up.
Now 26 years old, Buchanan set Crankworx aside during her Olympic run, but says watching Kintner’s 2016 performance left her stoked to return. Having logged both a BMX and Four Cross World Championship, she is hungry for a new title, and pushing herself to try new things—like the Nitro Circus mega ramp last month—is proving fruitful. She even finished just .56 of a seconds back on Kintner in the Crankworx Rotorua Air DH, with Canadian Vaea Verbeeck managing to win it, though it is one discipline Kintner has previous had on lockdown.
Darren Kinnaird, Crankworx General Manager:
It is really cool to see so many women in Crankworx riding at such a high level, with more women competing in more disciplines than ever before. At the pinnacle of it all, you have the legendary Jill Kintner and BMX crossover superstar Caroline Buchanan battling it out for the queen’s throne coming out of Rotorua. Both women are creating new fans as the competition grows. It’s really cool to see young girls getting engaged with the sport, and choosing their heroes to cheer for. From Queen Jill signs in Whistler to chants of ‘Car-o-line, Car-o-line’ in Rotorua, the women of Crankworx are showcasing the very best of women in sport.
A season-long competition with a $25,000 Crown on the line, is never won or lost in one round, of course, and there are other contenders who could still go the distance.
Vaea Verbeek
With two downhills in Les Gets, one in Innsbruck and three remaining in Whistler, the World Cup contingent may prove a force, with riders like Verbeeck, Tracey Hannah (AUS), and Emilie Siegenthaler (SUI) all very much contenders, in third, fourth and sixth, respectively, in the standings.
Casey Brown
Generalist Katy Curd (GBR) could climb from eighth spot and Canadian Casey Brown, with her love of downhill and enduro, is still very much on the board. Brown has already been a Queen of Crankworx, in the years before the festival became a world tour, and while the whip-off may not count toward the title, she certainly owns her own stake in Crankworx history as the undefeated champion of the Crankworx whip-off.
Crankworx heads to Les Gets, France, June 14-18, and Innsbruck, Austria, June 21-25, for its inaugural European doubleheader. It will be broadcast live, all season long, on Crankworx.com and Pinkbike.com.
All four events in the quest for the Triple Crown of Slopestyle are broadcast LIVE on all your devices exclusively on Red Bull TV. The Crankworx Les Gets Slopestyle and Crankworx Innsbruck Slopestyle presented by Kenda are the final events of each festival. Please check the listings below for broadcast times.
Jill Kintner / Caroline Buchanan
You can watch the Crankworx action LIVE this June:
- Crankworx Les Gets Dual Speed & Style Thursday, June 15, 5:30–7:30 p.m. CEST
- Les Gets Pump Track Challenge presented by RockShox Friday, June 16, 8–10 p.m. CEST
- Crankworx Les Gets Downhill presented by iXS Saturday, June 17, 3:30–5:30 p.m. CEST
- Crankworx Les Gets Slopestyle Sunday, June 18, 3:30–6 p.m. CEST
- Mons Royale Dual Speed & Style Thursday, June 22, 5:30–7:30 p.m. CEST
- Raiffeisen Club Pump Track Challenge presented by RockShox Friday, June 23, 8–10 p.m. CEST
- Crankworx Innsbruck Downhill presented by iXS Saturday, June 24, 3:30–5:30 p.m. CEST
- Crankworx Innsbruck Slopestyle presented by Kenda Sunday, June 25, 3:30–6:00 p.m. CEST
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Official website: crankworx.com