With Crankworx returning to its usual schedule for the first time since 2019, excitement was already high for the 2022 season. Adding even more fuel to the fire, however, was the announcement that Crankworx will be adding a fourth stop in Cairns, Australia to this year's tour.
“It's pretty awesome. The whole team is excited, partners are excited, the crew we are going to work with and everyone in Cairns is through the roof,” said Crankworx managing director Darren Kinnaird. “There’s just so much excitement, and the athletes are all super excited for a fourth stop. Everyone just wants more Crankworx.”
From its inception in 2004 through 2014, Crankworx started as a one-stop celebration of everything mountain biking, taking place in Whistler each summer.
But in 2015, the idea for a Crankworx tour started to take life with the addition of an event in Rotorua, New Zealand. Two years after that, another stop was added to the tour in Innsbruck, Austria.
“When we first started looking at Australia, that’s actually how we ended up in New Zealand in 2015. There was always some interest to bring Crankworx to Australia, it was just about finding the right location and finding the right group of people to work with, and in Cairns we found everything,” said Kinnaird.
“[Cairns] brings something new and unique … and it has a history of hosting major international mountain biking events. It has held the World Cup a couple of times and the World Champs in 2017. So it’s got great riding, it’s got a unique culture, and it’s a completely different tropical destination that brings a new flavour for Crankworx.
“But at the end of the day, it has got a passion for mountain biking, passion for adventure, great trails, and all the elements that makes up a great Crankworx destination are there. It’s just a new, completely different, spin on it.”
While the new stop in Cairns won’t be happening until fall, the 2022 tour kicks off in just over a month on June 15 in Innsbruck, followed by its return to Whistler on August 5 to 14.
“I actually just got back from a trip to Austria, and the whole team in is super fired up. We can't wait to get going,” said Kinnaird. “There's a bunch of updates and changes coming to the courses there and people are just so excited about having fans back at the event. The athletes can't wait to get going on the 2022 season, and coming out of the pandemic it will probably be the biggest and best one yet.”
The tour heads to Cairns from October 5 to 9 and wraps up in Rotorua from November 5 to 13.
