{"id":7428,"date":"2021-10-02T18:52:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-02T16:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/43ride.com\/en\/?p=7428"},"modified":"2025-10-21T11:34:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T09:34:47","slug":"hines-earns-second-gold-in-two-days-and-bensink-takes-first-ever-crankworx-win-on-pump-track-in-silverstar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/43ride.com\/en\/events\/2021\/hines-earns-second-gold-in-two-days-and-bensink-takes-first-ever-crankworx-win-on-pump-track-in-silverstar\/","title":{"rendered":"Hines earns second gold in two days, and Bensink takes first ever Crankworx win on Pump Track in SilverStar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Day Two of Crankworx B.C. racing at SilverStar Mountain Resort, with one competitor on a solid gold streak, and another earning his first Crankworx top of the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niels Bensink (NED) earns his first Crankworx gold with a near-flawless performance in finals to take the win in today\u2019s RockShox Pump Track Challenge SilverStar, and Kialani Hines (USA) earns her second gold medal in two days after winning the Dual Slalom yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kialani Hines \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was great. I qualified first, so I just wanted to keep it going throughout the day. All the girls started to get faster, so it was definitely a tough race. But I\u2019m happy to win.<\/p>– Kialani Hines<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hines also qualified first in yesterday\u2019s Dual Slalom. When the weather wreaked havoc on the track, the women\u2019s field called it, and Hines was awarded the win based on her qualifying run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, with the sun shining, it was a full out battle to the finish. The weather dried out most of the track, minus on corner that most riders cited as one of the deciding factors for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vaea Verbeeck vs Brooke Trine \/ photo: Clint Trahan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat corner was very stressful,\u201d<\/em> added the American.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI almost died in that corner,\u201d<\/em> Brayden Barrett-Hay (CAN) said, laughing, in an early round against Bas van Steenbergen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s scary because you want to come in at full pace because you know how much slower you\u2019re going to come out of it, but risking it and going fast, it\u2019s just so squishy, and if it catches your front wheel, there\u2019s a lot of bobbling going on.<\/p>– Harriet Burbidge-Smith<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I feel like the rest of the track was pretty straight-forward. It all dried out perfectly. But really all I could think about was that corner. So yeah, tough one. I just had to ride it a little harder than everything else I think, just to get some speed out of it.<\/p>– Kialani Hines<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Her efforts paid off. She was half a second behind Burbidge-Smith on the right-hand side on their first matchup, managing to charge in their second on the left side and make up for the time. Today\u2019s win is Hines\u2019 third Pump Track win on the Crankworx World Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Harriet Burbidge-Smith vs Kialani Hines \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the men\u2019s side, today\u2019s win was a first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really wanted this one,\u201d<\/em> said Bensink, whose top Crankworx result before today was a third earlier this year on the Pump Track in Innsbruck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the event in the B.C. series that I feel like I\u2019m a true specialist in, so yeah. It was good.<\/p>– Niels Bensink<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bas van Steenbergen vs Niels Bensink \/ photo: Chris Pilling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bensink hails from the BMX world and has only been riding mountain bikes for the past two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Hines he qualified first, just 0.3 seconds faster than Bas van Steenbergen, who he would face in the final matchup for gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPressure was on against Bas,\u201d<\/em> the Dutch rider said of his mindset heading into finals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The right side was running pretty slow, and there was a soft spot in the berm. So I almost feel like you had to be a bit lucky to hit the right line.<\/p>– Niels Bensink<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Keegan Wright vs Tuhoto-Ariki Pene \/ photo: Clint Trahan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bensink was just 0.39 behind in their first matchup, despite the challenge of the right course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think my line was good on the first lap, but Bas still beat me. I knew it was doable at that time. I just needed a perfect lap. My start was the best one of the day, I was leading into the first corner. After that it was just holding on and hoping I would make all the berms and luckily it was enough.<\/p>– Niels Bensink<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I think the start and the last right hander on the right hand side was the decider for the race. You could have a smooth left side, and everyone was having pretty smooth runs. And then the right side you could have a smooth run, but it came down to your exit speed coming out of that corner. There was no real way that you could hit it so that you could come out of it with speed, it was pretty much just decided on if you hit that little sweet spot to give you good exit speed.<\/p>– Keegan Wright<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

FULL RESULTS:<\/strong> RockShox Pump Track Challenge SilverStar<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n