The flame of dual slalom is burning strong at Crankworx Whistler and seems far from the old skool showdown it used to be.
Once again, our man Lee Miller captured the head-to-head action at Whistler Blackcomb as riders duked it out for solo glory or more King and Queen of Crankworx points.
This evening saw the Giant Dual slalom take place on the boneyard track here in Whistler. In a discipline that used to wow the crowds back in the day, Dual slalom seems to have lost popularity and is no longer a regular at the World Cup stops around the globe. That’s not to say it’s lost any of its excitement and the spectators lined the track for some fast paced action and extremely tight racing.
Marcelo Gutierrez seems to be racing every event here in Whistler, the Colombian juggling Dual Slalom with the Canadian Open DH practice today. Marcelo would be edge out in the second round by Barry Nobles.
The format for the event is simple, two riders go head to head on two occasions, once on each line with the lowest combined time progressing to the next round. The fastest 32 men and 8 women battled it out to see who would be crowned the Giant Dual Slalom champions.
Jill Kintner getting through the first round against Dani Johnson with ease.The course started off out of the gate with a tight crested left hand turn leading the riders down into a small mogul feature before a big right hand berm would take them into a rhythm section. Most riders opted for a simple double double into scrub before a sketchy rutted left hand turn although Mitch Ropelato did try a huge triple in practice but decided it wasn’t as quick.
Bas Van Steenbergen went on to knock out Barry Nobles in round 3.
Riders would then scrub a huge dirt mound before a big right hand berm would spit them out with a straight sprint down to the line through a couple of tight gates.
While Kyle Strait would claim an upset of sorts in the 3rd round by disposing of current King of Crankworx leader Adrien Loron.
In both the men’s and women’s fields it would be the reigning king and queen of Crankworx, and also the winners of the same event last year who would take home the spoils. Tomas Slavik would narrowly edge Bas Van Steenbergen in a close fought final while Jill Kintner would gain revenge on Caroline Buchanan after last nights defeat in the Pumptrack challenge in the women’s main event.
Cody Kelly looking as steezy as ever during practice but it would be an early night for him thanks to Van Steenbergen in round 2.
Mitch Ropelato’s weapon of choice, a Santa Cruz Bronson.
Caroline Buchanan rails a berm on her way to the women’s final.
Ropelato and Slavik neck and neck in the Men’s first semi final.
But it would be a narrow win for Tomas Slavik who progressed to the final.
In the second semi final Bas Van Steenbergen claimed victory over Kyle Strait.
In the women’s final, the crowd got what they wanted to see with two head to head runs of Kintner and Buchanan with Jill eventually claiming her second 5-peat of the week with a hard fought win.
Mitch Ropelato sprints out of the last corner towards the line and towards 3rd place in the men’s small final.
Bas Van Steenbergen grits his teeth towards the line in the final but over two runs it would be Slavik with the lowest combined time.
Not a bad week for Aussie BMX star Caroline Buchanan, 4th in the Fox Air DH, 2nd place in the Dual Slalom and 1st in the Pumptrack Challenge.
Smiles all round for Tomas Slavik after tonight’s win.
