Crankworx New Zealand has now been and gone, but there’s no need to cry. After all, the season is now upon us, and it’s probably about time you took a shower, put away that stack of empty pizza boxes and actually got back on your bike anyway.
We understand that’s it’s difficult to go cold turkey after a week of mountain biking madness though. Having to go from watching the world’s best rider’s to watching your mate Derek smash into a tree again isn’t always fun – although that largely depends on how much you like Derek of course.
It’s Probably time to put away the giant stack of empty pizza boxes now and actually get back on your bike…
Luckily for you, there’s a whole host of highlight edits from the event now floating around on the world wide web, and you can catch up on all of the drama right here on Mpora.
The much anticipated return of downhill racing came with a few concerns over how the course would look, but those were quickly disbanded after the course preview, and an awesome race saw Frenchman Loic Bruni take pole position in the men’s ranks and Rachel Atherton race to first place in the women’s.
On the other side of things, New Zealand was hosting its first ever stage in the Enduro World Series, and the showcase promised big things for 2015. French duo Jerome Clementz and Anne Caroline Chausson claimed the opening top spots, and the root section in stage five caused all kinds of mayhem along the way…
What’s to be taken from all of this then? Well, for a start, anyone who forgot how good the pros are is probably still recovering in hospital right now.
Otherwise, it looks like it’s going to be a good year for the French! Clementz took the enduro win ahead of fellow Frenchman Fabien Barel, although it is worth noting that 2014 winner Jared Graves was out with a shoulder injury.
Dijon-born Chausson shows no signs of letting up either, taking poll position in race one. The 37-year-old has more MTB medals than you can count on two hands, but with Briton and reigning champ Tracy Moseley finishing in second, there’s still all to play for. We’re only one round in after all.
Loic Bruni showed plenty signs of promise last year meanwhile, and his win will give him plenty of confidence before the World Cup gets going next month, while most will say it was an expected win for Rachel in the women’s category.
Long story short, it looks like the season is going to be a good one, and if this is anything to go by, it could well be one featuring plenty of snails, frogs legs and vintage wine in the after-parties…