{"id":6728,"date":"2020-08-13T20:17:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T18:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/43ride.com\/en\/?p=6728"},"modified":"2025-10-21T11:35:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T09:35:30","slug":"clif-crankworx-summer-series-verbeeck-and-van-steenbergen-take-top-dual-slalom-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/43ride.com\/en\/events\/2020\/clif-crankworx-summer-series-verbeeck-and-van-steenbergen-take-top-dual-slalom-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"CLIF Crankworx Summer Series: Verbeeck and van Steenbergen take top Dual Slalom spots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The top qualifiers in today\u2019s Sun Peaks Dual Slalom, while tired after 2.5 weeks of racing, came to win today. And win they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vaea Verbeeck was the fastest among the Elite Women, making it a clean sweep of Dual Slalom across the series, having won in SilverStar and in Kicking Horse. The rider who calls Coldstream, B.C. home said the win was \u201cdefinitely welcome\u201d heading into the final two days of competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vaea Verbeeck vs Casey Brown \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s definitely getting to the points where we\u2019re so tired, it\u2019s a bit of a weird thing to process now. It\u2019s not something I\u2019ve dealt with before. This kind of tiredness. Usually I try not to stress mentally and just flow with it for fun, and now I\u2019m so tired and beat that I just stress about that too.<\/p>– Vaea Verbeeck<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And as the series nears it\u2019s close, the focus on the overall title has heightened. The athlete who secures the most points over the course of the series will earn the title of CLIF Crankworx Summer Series Champion, and an additional $10,000 prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vaea Verbeeck vs Casey Brown \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s something I\u2019d usually like to have out of my mind. I\u2019m stoked to race each race with those girls, and I\u2019m stoked to see them perform really well. So usually I try not to think about it and it just turns out how it turns out but, right now, I don\u2019t know why, I\u2019m just so tired, I keep stressing about losing that edge that I have. I think today\u2019s win might help me a bit to go back to my usual ways of just going with it and hoping for a good end to the week.<\/p>– Vaea Verbeeck<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Coming in a close second to Verbeeck was Whistler\u2019s Georgia Astle. Heading into their first finals matchup, Astle seemed to have a slight lead, but Verbeeck surged in the last few corners. In their second matchup, Astle blew a gate. Verbeeck would take the win by an overall margin of 1.51 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Remi Gauvin vs Vaea Verbeeck \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think you can easily see improvements because we\u2019ve had back-to-back weeks. My gates… every week, just a little bit more confidence, and getting more snap, which is very cool… I\u2019m really happy with the overall skill development over the couple weeks. It\u2019s been super fun.<\/p>– Georgia Astle<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Finn Iles vs Bas van Steenbergen \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the men\u2019s side, Bas van Steenbergen gets his second of the series, fighting his way back up from his fourth place finish in last week\u2019s Dual Slalom in Kicking Horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStoked,\u201d said van Steenbergen, who beat out Finn Iles by a narrow margin of 0.34 after two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was good redemption from last week where I felt like I made some dumb mistakes. I felt a little more on it today.<\/p>– Bas van Steenbergen<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Mark Wallace vs Rhys Verner \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while he was clearly riding strong, the win certainly didn\u2019t come easy. Fighting for a place in the finals against Kasper Woolley, van Steenbergen went down at the last flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A flag got stuck in my tire, so he thought he won, and we ended up having to do a re-run. That\u2019s kind of a shitty one for him. But yeah, it\u2019s tight racing.<\/p>– Bas van Steenbergen<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s just a bit frustrating. I threw down my best lap, but it didn\u2019t count for anything, but that\u2019s the way it is. Out of my control.<\/p>– Kasper Woolley<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Kirk McDowall vs Bas van Steenbergen \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the frustration, Woolley said he was stoked with his third place finish, which came against Mark Wallace. The two crossed the line dead even in their first matchup, with Woolley pulling ahead by only 0.09 in their second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m pretty stoked. I missed the Slalom last week, and the first week I did horrible, so I\u2019m pretty happy to come third.<\/p>– Kasper Woolley<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

One up from Woolley, and just narrowly missing the top stop, Iles had plenty to be happy about today. The points he earned push him to the top of the Elite Men\u2019s overall standings by a large enough margin that he clinches the overall CLIF Crankworx Summer Series Champion title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eliot Jamieson vs Kasper Woolley \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I felt confident that I could compete for the overall. I wasn\u2019t sure I could win or what I could do, but I\u2019m happy to have come out and have done what I\u2019ve done to clinch the overall. Proud of myself.<\/p>– Finn Iles<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The downhiller, who 2.5 weeks in to the series has won four golds, four silvers, and one bronze, said it was today\u2019s discipline that surprised him the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finn Iles vs Eliot Jamieson \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve hardly raced Dual Slalom but it\u2019s one of the most fun events you could do. I think the head-to-head really adds that extra flair to the event. I kind of surprised myself the first week and from there I had a different confidence going in to the event.<\/p>– Finn Iles<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The course that challenged racers today was a purpose built 40+ second track at the base of the Sun Peaks Bike Park. It started off fast and flowy, with big rollers and some doubles, moving into a long series of flat grass turns that van Steenbergen described as \u201cmake or break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FULL RESULTS:<\/strong> Sun Peaks Dual Slalom – Elite Men<\/a> \/ Elite Women<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n