Crankworx Rotorua Enduro World Series She eld’s Howard Street Dual Slalom New Fox 36 fork XC World Cup

The Crankworx world tour kicked o in Rotorua, New Zealand, where the stacked roster of top riders made for some tight battles across all the disciplines. After a week of competition, it was NZ local Sam Blenkinsop who held aloft the King of Crankworx crown, with the gloveless Kiwi winning the Toa enduro and the Redwoods and Rotorua downhill races, the last two aboard his new prototype Norco 29er DH bike. Canada’s Casey Brown looked poised to usurp the Queen of Crankworx throne, going flat out against the clock and fully sideways in the Oceania Whip- O Champs, until a crash during DH practice took her out of contention and let America’s Jill Kintner keep her crown.

The Speed & Style contest saw the return to competition of Martin Söderström, and the tall Swede whipped and spun his way to victory against local BMXer Joe Simpson. Heavy rain meant the slopestyle comp nearly didn’t go ahead, but the clouds cleared just in time. Canada’s Brett Rheeder ( pictured) capitalised on the absence of previous winner Brandon Semenuk, throwing down a run full of corked spins and highly technical combos, including a backflip barspin to opposite tailwhip. All eyes then turned to Nicholi Rogatkin, to see if the American could go one better. But, after stomping every trick on his run, he under- rotated a massive 1,440 spin on the final hit and ended up in the dirt rather than on the podium.

The next Crankworx round takes place in Innsbruck, Austria, on 13- 17 June.