Garbanzo DH Photos - Crankworx 2014
The eleventh running of the infamous Garbanzo DH was missing Canada's favorite competitor, as Steve Smith made his appearance with his right foot in a cast after a rock strike injury sidelined him at the Windham World Cup DH. That said, the action was guaranteed to be torrid, as last year's winner and record holder, Giant's Marcelo Gutierrez was on hand to defend his title and was sitting in the final spot as the day's top qualifier. Only seven women filled out the pro ranks and with last year's winner Lapierre's Emmeline Ragot missing from the roster, the crowd favorite was Whistler resident Claire Buchar riding for Intense. Fifteen nationalities were present among the hopefuls, all ready to put bike and body on the line to brave the legend - a dusty line of rocks, bomb holes and roots, woven from eleven of Whistler's most iconic DH trails, seven kilometers long, with 1036 meters of descending. Rain in the early morning promised optimum conditions, but the monster that is Garbanzo shirked off the moisture and bathed those who dared to drop in with thirteen minutes of dust and pain. In the end, a new course record was set, an enduro racer nearly trounced the field and ultimately, two double winners were crowned on mid-sized wheels. Garbanzo never disappoints.
Additional race information and results here.
Stay tuned for more Crankworx action all week.
Trailforks.com
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 Michael Anderson from Sweden railing turns on Upper Garbo while Bryn Atkinson and Chris Kovarik look on. |
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| Jermias Maio came all the way from Argentina to race the Garbo DH... that's one of the amazing things about this race and Crankworx in general--it draws people from all over the globe to come celebrate the Whistler Bike Park in all it's facets. |
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| Just a few steps away from the podium: a relaxed Bryn Atkinson rallied the Garbo DH like a cheap pinball machine for 6th place--not an easy feat coming right on the heels of the Windham World Cup, and right before having to depart for the World Cup finals in France a week and a half from today. |
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| Walker Shaw trying to hold onto the off camber rocks in the upper portion of the Garbo DH track. Somewhere farther down the track, something went sideways, though; Shaw was out of the top twenty. |
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| He may no longer be hitting all the gnarly freeride comps anymore, but Jamie Goldman loves bikes, loves riding, and dropped into the Garbo DH, as well as every other event he could sign up for. "Basically I'm here to ride until I'm too tired to ride anymore. I wish I had gotten into the Joyride, but the last time I competed I was just outside the top ten (3 years ago, when his slopestyle bike wasn't available so Jamie G competed on his DH bike) and I haven't been asked back." He was outside of the top 20 today, but I can guarantee that Jamie G had a blast the whole way down--this is one guy who's always stoked to ride his bike. |
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| Enduro racer Josh Carlson has ridden a DH bike about a dozen times, and literally put in only 5 runs (2 on Monday, and 3 earlier today) on this brand new 27.5 Giant Glory before dropping into racing the Garbo DH. Fourth overall for the Aussie. Not too shabby... maybe he should reverse the trend of DH racers going to enduro and be an enduro racer going to DH? |
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| The racer always willing to poke a finger in the UCI's eye, Eddie Masters, en route to finishing in 9th place--one spot behind brother Wyn Masters. One has to wonder: will we see Ed Masters at Whip Off Worlds, getting sideways in flip flops like we did last year? |
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| Wyn Masters paying homage to a hallowed cycling tradition by inverting race number 13 to ward off bad luck. |
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| Remi Gauvin, was looking fast on course, and his result proves it...5th place. Another one to watch. |
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| Devinci's Mark Wallace en route to putting in a run for fellow Canadian and teammate Steve Smith, out with an ankle injury, and unable to defend his Crankworx rep. Wallace came through with a third place on the podium...right behind fellow Devinci teammate Nick Beer, who came home second. |
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| Marcelo Gutierrez, the defending Garbo champ, getting ROWDY with the outside line in the upper Garbo zone while the course marshal looks on. |
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| Hands down, the man with the best name in mountain bike racing, Nick Beer, pinning it through upper Garbo to the second step on the podium. "I flew from Windham on Sunday (with a hangover--ouch), and was so beat from that World Cup and the travel I could only put in two training laps Monday, and two today. I'm pretty stoked to get on the podium." |
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| Chris Kovarik, charging to the finish line. Unfortunately his efforts just weren't enough to place on the podium today. |
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| Wallace and Beer, part of the Devinci Global Racing's stacked team. |
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| Last man on course, Marcelo Gutierrez Villega about to pull the rug out from under Nick Beer and Mark Wallace, to take the win. |
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| Winner! For the second year in a row...Marcelo Gutierrez Villega. |
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| Nick Beer (2), Marcelo Gutierrez (1), and Mark Wallace (3) getting some bubbly. |
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| Casey Brown from Revelstoke, BC had a great race and finished second overall. |
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| Claire crosses the finish line and goes into the hot seat. |
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| Casey and Claire hugging it out after the battle for Garbo. |
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| The women's pro field had their start times moved up by ten minutes, meaning the entire pro women's class went by before fellow PB shooter Margus Riga and I were set up. Apologies to women's racing fans for nothing but a podium shot: Casey Brown (2), Claire Buchar (1) and Swiss Miss, Lorraine Truong (3). |
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| Claire Buchar puckering up to a big bottle of bubbly--that and a fat check for the win means drinks are on Buchar tonight in Whistler Village. |
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| Gutierrez with the fat check for the time and effort he put into defending the Garbo DH win he had last season. |
Additional race information and results here.
Stay tuned for more Crankworx action all week.
Trailforks.com
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that`s exactly what i thought
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