The first event in the Pro Gravity Race Tour in Port Angeles is in the books. A natural phenomenon aided the event in a surprising way as well, causing the participation of several notable racers from across the pond.
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Words by David Peacock
That geological event that has been disrupting air traffic in Europe, what was it again, oh yeah a VOLCANO, caused a significant amount of professional racers' flights to be delayed or canceled. In turn, said racers decided to give mother nature the proverbial finger and jump aboard their bikes for a weekend of racing in Washington State. As always, the event provided amazing action for the spectators, but this year the level was noticeably elevated.
The final results were as follows:
1. Atkinson, Bryn (Transition Racing)
2. Leov, Justin (Trek World Racing)
3. Strobel, Luke (MS/Evil)
4. Neethling, Andrew (Trek World Racing)
5. Atherton, Dan (Commencal)
6. Aaron Gwin (Yeti/Fox Racing Shox)
7. Dan Stanbridge (Dirt/Norco)
8. Danny Hart (Giant)
9. Neko Mullaly (Trek World Racing)
10.Curtis Keene (Specialized/Sram)
Congratulations to the scrub master himself Bryn Atkinson who has been stylishly killing it on the World Cup circuit for years. He is consistently in the top 10 in the biggest races, but is highly underrated by many. It is exciting to see the Aussie get some lovin' atop the podium, especially at the PRO GRT!! US racing is on the comeback trail.
Speaking of US racing, several top 10 finishers were from the US of A, besting big name Syndicate stars Greg Minaar and Josh Bryceland. Luke Strobel absolutely destroyed the course on his Evil Revolt, and will be a force to be reckoned with this season. Hopefully he can make it to some World Cups so we can see him on DH's main stage. Aaron Gwin also continued his hot streak, following up his back-to-back second places at Sea Otter with a sixth here at Port Angeles. Rounding out the top ten was Californian Curtis Keene, followed by pumptrack extraordinaire Mitch Ropelato in 12th and Duncan Riffle in 16th.
As previously mentioned, many of the stars of world racing were present for the event, among these "world racers" were teammates Justin Leov and Andrew Neethling, both of whom managed to secure podium positions aboard the ever-beautiful Trek Session 88; apparently the southern hemisphere has treated these two well over the off-season.
Canadian downhill phenom Steve Smith turned heads in the finals by competing chainless, although not by choice. Upon dropping the hammer out of the start gate, Smith had his chain snap, rendering his drivetrain useless. Left to the mechanisms at his disposal, namely pumping the terrain to pick up speed and avoiding braking whenever possible, Smith still managed to slide into a respectable 17th place.
The woman's side of things lined up a little something like this:
1. Moseley, Tracy (Trek World Racing)
2. Atherton, Rachel (Commencal)
3. Kintner, Jill (Transition Racing/Fox Shox)
4. Buhl, Melissa (KHS Bicycles)
5. Harmony, Jacqueline (Vixen Racing/All Mountain Cyclery)
You might notice how similar these results are to the podiums at the Sea Otter events; three of the top for women were also on the DH podium at the Otter. If this is any indication of things to come Rachel Atherton has bypassed any easy racing rehab in favor of taking podium spots everywhere. Jill Kintner, as always, was in fine form on her new Transition ride. Chalk up another podium for both her and Melissa Buhl!
Pinkbike has posted these POV videos of the track:
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