July 2/13 21:58 pm - Crankworx Whistler Adds Two Canada Cup Events in 2013

Posted by Editoress on 07/2/13
 

Crankworx Whistler has added Canada Cup Finals for cross country and downhill to take place during its tenth anniversary August 9-18.  The Canada Cup Cross Country Finals will be held on Wednesday, August 14th, as part of the new Canadian Open XC event, while the Canada Cup Open Downhill Finals will take place as part of the Canadian Open DH on August 18th.

Crankworx is the world's leading freeride mountain bike festival, showcasing gravity, slopestyle and enduro events, Fox Air DH; the SRAM Canadian Open Enduro, presented by Specialized; and the "Super Bowl of slopestyle", Red Bull Joyride.  Many of the finest World Cup downhill athletes travel to Whistler from around the world to compete in Crankworx events, including Canada's own Steve Smith, who has two UCI World Cup downhill podiums so far this season. Smith is currently sitting in second place in the UCI world rankings for World Cup downhill.

"We are very pleased to work with Cycling BC and Crankworx Events Inc. for these two races," says Mathieu Boucher, Director of Performance Development at Cycling Canada. "Ultimately, our aim is that competing athletes will benefit from this partnership and we look forward to offering two great Canada Cup events in Whistler, British Columbia."

"Our partnership with Cycling Canada and Cycling BC will allow riders to get an event license on a complimentary basis regardless of where they are from and be able to continue to compete at the 'pro' level. We are looking forward to working with the Cycling Canada and Cycling BC at our tenth anniversary in Whistler this August," said Darren Kinnaird, general manager of Crankworx. " We always have the athletes who compete in our events first in mind and it's exciting to add an official ranking value to Canadian athletes competing in the Canadian Open DH, not to mention the Canadian Open XC."

In addition to the Canada Cup races, Ian Hughes, Development Coach for Cycling Canada, will host a two-day development camp for young cross country riders in Western Canada.

Press release