It was going to be difficult for Finn Iles to match the magic of his first Crankworx Whistler race win, but he sure tried his best.
After winning the 2018 Air DH on his 19th birthday, the Whistler racer came out and defended his title in a commanding way on Aug. 13, beating American Mitch Ropelato by 2.47 seconds and New Zealand鈥檚 Sam Blenkinsop by 3.23 seconds.
鈥淭his year was a little bit different because it was raining and I wasn鈥檛 sure if I could push as hard, but I dropped in to the first few corners and it wasn鈥檛 too bad,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 went for it, and that鈥檚 how it is on A-Line: if you go as fast as you can, you normally have a good result.鈥�
Iles was the last rider to drop, and he made it clear why he was the defending champ, handling one of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park鈥檚 most prominent tracks with ease, cracking the four-minute barrier in three minutes, 57.04 seconds (3:57.04). Though some rain started to come partway through the race, it had no ill effect on Iles, who turns 20 on Aug. 15.
鈥淭he whole bottom section, I knew it was pretty dry, so I went full gas and rode strong,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to put that much time between me and second place. It just shows that I鈥檓 strong, especially on this course because it鈥檚 so physical, and ready for the races coming up.鈥�
It鈥檚 been an up-and-down season for Iles on the UCI World Cup downhill circuit, with Iles sustaining more than his share of crashes putting him near the back of the pack in recent events. However, with a win at the Canadian Championships and now at the Air DH, he feels he鈥檚 back on track to finish strong.
鈥淲henever I come home and get a win, it adds a little bit of confidence,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 know that I am fast. I just need to finish and then I鈥檒l get a result.鈥�
On the women鈥檚 side, another familiar face topped the podium as Jill Kintner of the United States won gold for the seventh consecutive year.
Kintner skipped the first two Crankworx festivals of the season to focus more on enduro riding, but is back to make some noise as one of her favourite tour stops.
Kintner has been battling illness this week, noting that she鈥檇 been coughing steadily since crossing the line, but managed to best Whistler鈥檚 Georgia Astle by 1.21 seconds and Austrian junior Valentina Holl by 3.05 seconds.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know if I was going to be able to do it. It was one of those one-day-at-a-time, one-lap-at-a-time [things],鈥� Kintner said. 鈥淚t felt not too bad. I rode my trail bike and it was really smooth this year.
鈥淎fter doing all the enduro stuff, this felt short and quite easy, actually. I gave it what I had and I knew I was riding good, so it was nice to get a win.鈥�
Astle, meanwhile, has now podiumed in two consecutive events after winning the Garbanzo DH on Friday night. A year after finishing just off the Air DH podium in fourth, Astle was thrilled to rise onto it.
鈥淚鈥檓 very happy about it. I鈥檓 stoked,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 definitely didn鈥檛 have any pressure on myself for A-Line because it鈥檚 A-Line, it鈥檚 a weird one to race.
鈥淚 had a smooth run, didn鈥檛 necessarily feel fast, but I think it鈥檚 good that I kept it smooth and didn鈥檛 crazy overshoot anything. I was pretty consistent.鈥�
The pro women dropped before the rain hit, and Astle said those conditions suited her riding just fine.
鈥淭he track was so fast today. It was perfect,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 nailed all the berms. I was on my trail bike. I was cornering really well today through all the bomb holes.
鈥淭he only section I messed up with in the technical section, the last one. I stalled out for a bit and was in the hardest gear trying to pedal up a bit. Other than that, it was a pretty smooth run.鈥�
The amateur divisions ran the Air DH on Monday. Benny de Vall and Landon de Vall hit the men鈥檚 10-to-12 podium in first and third, respectively, while Squamish鈥檚 Ainhoa Ijurco topped the junior women 13-to-18 event. Pemberton鈥檚 Tegan Cruz took second to Bodhi Kuhn in the youth men 13-to-14 contest, while Squamish鈥檚 Jacob Jewett topped third-place finisher Coen Skrypnek, also of Squamish, in the youth men 15-to-16 race. Pemberton鈥檚 Lucas Cruz won the junior men 17-to-18 contest while Squamish鈥檚 Mark Bunyan won the men鈥檚 veteran amateur 40-plus event.
Other winners were: Aaron Gungl of Australia (men鈥檚 senior amateur 19-to-29); Wallace Miranda of Brazil (men鈥檚 master amateur 30-to-39); Katarina Jorsback of Sweden (women鈥檚 senior amateur 19-plus); and Germany鈥檚 Lara Markthaler (women鈥檚 10-to-12).
For full results, visit www.crankworx.com.
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