Steve Smith Pulls The Triple Crown At The 2012 Crankworx

Crankworx Festival | WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—Crankworx 2012 will go down as the hottest, driest, burliest DH shake-up in recent memory. It will also be etched as the year Devinci Global Racing’s Steve Smith edged all takers, becoming the first rider ever to win Whistler’s Triple Crown of gravity events.

Festivities launched with the Garbanzo DH, the longest DH race in the world. Devinci young gun Mark Wallace set the first podium worthy run; a time that would stand until the final 10 riders blasted into Whistler Village. Smith topped the Devinci charge, splintering the competition with a seismic 5.48-second rift. Jr. charger Mark Wallace captured 5th, Nick Beer 9th, and George Brannigan 13th.

Next was the world-renowned A-Line DH, where Smith backed his previous win—eclipsing the field by 3.75 seconds. Beer scorched into 8th, Whistler local Ian Morrison finished an impressive 10th, and Brannigan locked in 12th.

“I was stoked and surprised to take the win in the A-Line by so much over guys like Lopes and Mick,” Smith says. “I went for it and things worked out.”

The weekend’s Canadian Open finale saw rabid fans swarm Heckler’s Rock to see if Smith would repeat his 2011 win and seal a never-been-done-before Crankworx Triple Crown. Again Wallace set the early podium pace, where he sat until the last 10 riders. After the smoke settled, Wallace was bumped to 5th, Beer sat in 7th, while Smith decimated the entire field by 4.64 seconds—earning the King of Crankworx crown as the winningest rider of the festival.

“My favorite event at Crankworx is the Canadian Open,” Smith says. “The track was amazing, the new carbon Wilson was mind blowing in its first race, and it felt great to close out Crankworx with the win.”

DGR team manager Gabe Fox adds: “It was an amazing weekend for the whole crew. Stevie really stood above everyone—it’s hard as hell to win three events like this. I was very impressed with Wallace’s results at this level, and Nick and the rest of the squad were solid all weekend.

“With the launch of the Carbon Wilson for Sunday’s race, you really couldn’t have scripted a better weekend.”

Next up for Devinci Global Racing are the UCI World Championships in Leogang, Austria, followed by the World Cup Finals in Hafjell, Norway.

Devinci Global Racing is proudly supported by: Cycles Devinci, SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, Easton Wheels, Schwalbe, E-Thirteen, ODI, Selle Italia, Fox Head Clothing and My Package.