Whistler鈥檚 Georgia Astle has her eyes on a major Crankworx prize.
Starting with the first festival of the season in Rotorua, New Zealand, the 22-year-old is ramping up her participation in the Crankworx World Tour in 2020 with the ultimate goal of racing herself into contention for the Queen of Crankworx crown.听
Astle鈥檚 best results bookended her week, she started with a third-place finish in the Giant Toa Enduro on March 1 and wrapped with a sixth-place showing in the Crankworx Rotorua Downhill on March 8.
In between, Astle took an 11th-place finish in the Rotorua Air DH on March 4, a 13th-place showing in the 100% Dual Slalom Rotorua on March 5, and another 13th-place result in the RockShox Rotorua Pump Track Challenge on March 7.
Even with five events in a week, Astle still felt strong when speaking the day after competition wrapped, crediting her offseason work with TaG Cycling for preparing her well. However, she acknowledged that she鈥檚 still in the process of regaining her tenacious racing mindset.
鈥淭he gym work I鈥檝e been doing I really noticed in the downhill, which was on this really blown-out course,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was like doing however many hundreds of push-ups a day down the track. I thought, 鈥業 can do this. This isn鈥檛 too bad.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 the bike confidence I鈥檓 lacking.鈥�
Despite requiring a little recovery time after the enduro, Astle said she was glad to have it done first, especially as it doesn鈥檛 really move the needle in terms of the overall Crankworx standings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun race. I really enjoy doing enduro. All the other events in Crankworx were sandwiched in and actually counted,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he enduro was more for fun and was just an extra event that I added on.鈥�
The course, however, was a challenge, as only two of six stages were properly gravity-fed, she said. That meant it was hard for riders to hold speed for most of the race鈥檚 duration and, combined with tight transition times and hot temperatures, left competitors sweating.
鈥淵ou just made it to your start, you have five minutes to drop, you grab a sip of water and then you pretty much jump into the stage and all of a sudden, it was pretty much the pedalliest stage ever. That was really hard,鈥� she said.
Being her first year loading up on Crankworx events, Astle knows the learning curve she鈥檚 facing in the coming months. Still, she鈥檚 seen how her fellow women have handled new events such as the CLIF Speed and Style, running for just the second time after debuting in Whistler last August, and she鈥檚 eager for what she鈥檒l soon be able to take on.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 really up for the jumps on my hardtail, my dirt-jump bike, but watching the girls, they improved so much and started throwing tricks on them,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty confident that by the end of this year, my riding will have skyrocketed because I鈥檒l have to do these events that I wouldn鈥檛 normally be doing. I鈥檓 really excited by that.鈥�
Apart from her usual downhill and enduro contests, Astle said she enjoyed the dual slalom, which requires different skills in different areas of the course.
鈥淪ure, the BMX girls have a huge advantage with gate starts, but there鈥檚 so much of a mountain-biking aspect within it. There鈥檚 jumping, cornering, all these skills that I think makes it the coolest race format,鈥� she said.
While the pump track is also fun, Astle said those with BMX backgrounds are strongly favoured鈥攕o she plans to be a regular at the local BMX courses in preparation for future stops in Austria in June and at home in Whistler in August.
With her expansion into so many disciplines this year, Astle noted that she鈥檚 welcomed an extra set of hands with her on tour this year, as she has the help of a mechanic through her Unior Devinci Factory Racing Team.
鈥淭his year, I have a bit of a step up with my support, so I had some helping me on the mechanic side of things,鈥� she said. 鈥淥therwise, it would have been crazy having to deal with three bikes.鈥�
Also in Rotorua, Squamish鈥檚 Ainhoa Ijurko made her Crankworx pro division debut, finishing 15th in the Air DH, 16th in the dual slalom and seventh in the downhill.
In the downhill, Australia鈥檚 Tracey Hannah topped American Jill Kintner and New Zealand鈥檚 Vinny Armstrong for the pro women鈥檚 win while Australia鈥檚 Mick Hannnah bested a pair of Kiwis, Sam Blenkinsop and George Brannigan, for the men鈥檚 win. As well, Ben de Vall won the youth men鈥檚 13-14 division while Squamish鈥檚 Jackson Goldstone topped the youth men鈥檚 15-16 contest and Squamish鈥檚 Lily Boucher was fourth.
In the Air DH, Kintner scored the women鈥檚 win over Anneke Beerten of the Netherlands and defending Queen of Crankworx Vaea Verbeeck of Canada. On the men鈥檚 side, Blenkinsop bested Czechia鈥檚 Tomas Slavik and New Zealand鈥檚 Matt Walker. Meanwhile, Cameron Bragg won the invitational 10-to-12 female division, Lisa Mason took third in the senior 19-plus female event, Boucher took fifth in her category and de Vall placed 19th in his division.
As for the dual slalom, Kintner got past Canadian Casey Brown in the big final, while Verbeeck earned third by topping Australian Danielle Beecroft in the small final. On the men鈥檚 side, American Kyle Strait bested Canuck Bas Van Steenbergen for gold, and in the small final, Walker emerged over American Collin Hudson. Meanwhile, Boucher ended up taking third in her event.
In the speed and style, France鈥檚 Tomas Lemoine downed American Greg Watts in the men鈥檚 big final while in an all-American small final, Garret Mechem got past David Lieb. Goldstone also competed, taking 13th overall. As for the women, Jordan Scott of the United States topped Verbeeck and Kintner for top spot.
It was the second win in a row for Scott, who beat Kintner in the pump track women鈥檚 final as France鈥檚 Mathilde Bernard bested New Zealand鈥檚 Shania Rawson for bronze. On the men鈥檚 side, the United States swept the podium as Tommy Zula emerged in the big final over Hudson, while Austin Warren edged out Van Steenbergen in the small final.
In the King of Crankworx overall chase, Van Steenbergen (202 points) holds a slight advantage over Strait (194 points) and Blenkinsop (180 points) while in the Queen chase, Kintner has a strong start in wresting back her title with 420 points to Verbeeck鈥檚 285 and Scott鈥檚 227. Astle sits 11th with 72 points.
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