All hail the queen... and don't forget about the challenger.
Caroline Buchanan didn't win Wednesday's Ultimate Pump Track Challenge, but silver was all she needed to clinch her second straight Queen of Crankworx title. With 948 points, the Australian phenom's lead in the season-long rankings is now insurmountable.
Due credit must be given, however, to Kialani Hines for spoiling Buchanan's bid for an undefeated pump track campaign. Hines dropped the first of her two runs, but rocketed out of the inside corner in round No. 2 to erase her opponent's lead and then some. The American rider was the last to defeat Buchanan in pump track at Crankworx Innsbruck 2022, and she ended Buchanan's win streak this year at seven.
Quite the reversal of fortunes for an athlete who had qualified in fifth.
"That's an uncomfortable feeling," Hines said in an interview with Red Bull TV. "All the girls are so fast, and it's all within the same second. The track was harder than I thought it was going to be, so I struggled all day, but I've done it before so I knew I could do it again. I just gave it my all."
Hines didn't always do well with the Whistler track's relatively small rollers, which make it more difficult to gain speed when you're racing without a chain. Nevertheless, her excellent cornering won her top prize and netted her the fastest two times of the day.
Jordy Scott rounded out the elite women's podium in third, having come all the way back from a shoulder injury that kept her out of action for several months.
"I literally couldn't have imagined this," Scott remarked. "I had high hopes coming in, but I've never been in this position where I have no idea what to expect, so this is beyond expectations."
Scott suffered a heavy crash in Rotorua last year, but her surgically-repaired shoulder held up when she took a tumble in practice. The American ended up besting Canadian Open Downhill silver medallist Louise Ferguson in the small final.
Quest for the crown
With his bronze medal in Tuesday's air DH, Tuhoto-Ariki Pene overtook Bas van Steenbergen in the King of Crankworx standings, and he just padded his lead by prevailing in the elite men's Pump Track Challenge. The New Zealander put up the event's five fastest starts (with four in the 1.8-second range), and his ability to get going like a video game character was integral to his success.
American contender Austin Warren did all he could, but it wasn't enough as Pene won both of their matchups; including once from the longer outside track.
When asked by Red Bull about his new gold medal, Pene simply smiled wide and quipped, "It's cool."
With defending King of Crankworx Bas van Steenbergen falling in the quarterfinals to no. 1 qualifier Ryan Gilchrist and placing seventh, Pene now has 779 points to his closest opponent's 686. Despite that, he's not going to obsess over the season rankings.
"Definitely just going to approach each race and see what happens," Pene said. "At the end of the day, I just like racing, but to have that [King title] would be even better. That'd be sick, but racing is racing and that's what I enjoy about it."
Gilchrist joined Buchanan in claiming some hardware for Australia. His medal turned out to be bronze, and he earned it in a small-final duel with Collin Hudson of the United States. Hudson wiped out on his second run trying to navigate the final turn, enabling his rival to cruise to the finish.
"You hate to do it that way, but we're still third on the podium," commented Gilchrist, who went back to check on Hudson in a show of sportsmanship. "Top-notch competition here, we've got some incredible racers everywhere. Every single race that was on the broadcast was a final: we had Bas, we had Bubba, we had Collin, so it felt like giant-slaying from the outset."
In other news, local youth Benny de Vall and Cami Bragg snatched bronze in the U17 and U15 pump track events during an exciting afternoon session for CWNext athletes. Pique Newsmagazine will have more Crankworx Whistler content throughout the week.
