GIANT slalom winner Jill Kintner.
Photo: Justa Jeskova

 

Fionn vs Leigh..
Photo: Justa Jeskova

 

Emmeline Ragot racing Manon Carpenter.
Photo: Justa Jeskova

Thanks to Justa Jeskova for these shots, and read on for more on how the event went down…

Kokanee Crankworx is the biggest MTB festival in the world and has been in full swing this week, despite some meteorological In Wednesday’s Air Downhill, Fionn Griffiths took the win and the largest of the novelty checks. Jill Kintner got on a big bike for the first time this year and made off with second place, an impressive performance since it’s not her specialty. Emmeline Ragot had to settle for third – even with Sabrina Jonnier out of the mix she just can’t seem to get to the top spot. This week’s  Garbonzo DH winner Miranda Miller is still recovering from injury and could only take part in one event, so she’s not in the mix at these races.

The Air Downhill - Crankworks 2009 is run down Whistler’s A-line and tests the rider’s abilities to carry speed over the 100+ jumps. Fionn said after the race:

“I’m happy it rained, I just let my bike slip through the corners…just greased it a little, I tried to keep it smooth, pedalled when I could and scrubbed some jumps to keep my speed.”

The Senior women category was almost as big as the Pro and dominated by Canadian riders. Jamie Hill took the win there, click here for the full results for all classes.

And here’s another Whistler Creek Productions video with the action, there’s not many shots of the women riders, but you get Lisa Lefroy commentating and talkin’ smack.

In the Giant Slalom, Jill Kintner took the win over Emmeline Ragot in second and DH legend Leigh Donovan in third. Junior rider Manon Carpenter had an impressive race to finish 4th after losing the semi to Leigh.  Jill said of the race:

“I wasn’t making any mistakes and I just kept it fast and smooth. Events at Kokanee Crankworx set the standard and it is one of my favourite places to come and ride as well as compete.”

Jill has a blog that she updates regularly, you can read about all these races and other aspects of Kokanee Crankworx from her point of view here. We have links to the blogs of the other riders mentioned in the right-hand sidebar, don’t forget to check those out when you want to know more about what went down.

Full results are here. Click the pic below to watch the official Crankworx GS video, featuring a short chat with Leigh Donovan, a catch-up with Jill, and some good footage of the women’s racing too. And ten points if you spot the errors in the frame below! Apart from that, it’s a cool video.

In the Canadian Open Enduro 2009 Fionn Griffiths racked up another win, with US champ Melissa Buhl in second and Emmeline Ragot in third. Katrina Strand has been doing loads of work behind the scenes at Crankworx, but got on the bike for this one and finished fourth.

The ‘enduro’ style track was well over twenty minutes of pedally terrain, on a course that put all aspects of the rider’s abilities to the test. The course began at the top of Garbanzo,starting with a short lap around the Chic Pea Lodge and then a high speed peddling section into a single track descent. Overall, the course dropped a total of 3800 feet with 400 feet of climbing interspersed, differentiating the race from traditional downhill events.

Fee struggled to keep the pace up on her Norco DH rig, despite adding an xc cassette to help on the climbs. She told interviewers aftewards:

I haven’t done a race like this and it required a lot of endurance. It was not fun while I was doing it, I was yelling at myself all the way down like a crazy person. There was one bit when we came around a tight corner and there was a huge hill I wasn’t expecting. My legs just died, I had to get off and walk for 45 seconds. Three people passed me but I was able to pick them off on the downhill sections and get to the bottom first.

Full results are here. We may have some photos from this event soon…

Videos are still going up in various places online, and I’m sure you’ll be seeing Gregg Watt’s moneymakin’ flip whip countless times over the next twelve months online and in riding DVDs. Crankworx culminates in the men’s slopestyle, and Gregg took home the giant check for $15,000 – a lot more than the women are playing for, even if one woman won every event that’s open to us! His run is here.

Older: No World Champs Comeback for Rachel Atherton

Fresher: Martha Hucker interviews Joey Gough

Published on 17/08/2009 by Martha Hucker.