The Dual Slalom is wrapped, with Jason Memmelaar taking home first place for the men, and Jill Kintner nabbing top spot in the woman's race. Full photo coverage and words are inside...
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Words and Photos by Dean Henthorn
Pro Men
1st Jason Memmelaar
2nd Brian Buell
3rd Peter Hanak
4th Camilo Sanchez
Pro Women
1st Jill Kintner
2nd Melissa Buhl
3rd Jackie Harmony
4th C Michelle Rivera
Amateur Men
1st Dillon Lemarr
2nd Jonathan Card
3rd Troy Delia
4th Freddy Hernandez
Eventual pro-men winner Jason Memmelaar.
Day one of the Crankworx is in the bag and dual slalom was the only competitive event on the schedule. Delayed an hour due to the wet conditions left over from the previous afternoon showers, the riders took to practice and qualifying. Slick and muddy conditions made practice think twice about tires, tire pressure and line choice.
Transition Racing's Lars Sternberg!
Brian Buell on his way to second place.
By the time head to head racing began, the course began to dry out and times started to fall. A quality field of riders saw some of the bigger names miss the qualifying cut that set the pro field to just 16 racers.
Peter Hanak pulling off the Brian Lopes look like no other.
Upsets were in the making as the red course fast qualifier Lars Sternberg (Transition Bikes) went down in the first round to Camilo Sanchez who finished fourth. Peter Hanak, fast qualifier on the blue course, suffered a broken chain in the second round but redeemed himself by winning the small final for a 3rd place paycheck.
Jason Memmelaar was close to being caught in the finals, but kept it together and took the W.
Kintner exercising her dominance over the competition.
As eliminations progressed - the steady riding of Jason Memmelaar (Team Hayes/Giant Bikes) and Brian Buell (Team Geronimo /Banshee Bikes) paid off by putting the two in the finals. Switching courses , each rider took advantage of the much faster red course to throw down their fast runs with Memmelar eking out the win by .005 of a second and collect the big cardboard check.
Despite breaking a chain in a semifinal heat, Peter Hanak still pulled off fourth.
Jill Kintner.
The woman's Pro field saw the Jill Kintner (Transition Bikes) and Melissa Buhl (KHS) meet yet again in another final with Kintner taking the win and continuing her winning ways for the Transition Bikes race team. Third place went to Jackie Harmony whose speed and confidence this year has made the woman's field anything but mundane. Harmony's speed and consistency this year and has pushed Kitner and Buhl and made the race for the podium that much more fun to watch.
Men's podium: Memmelaar, Buell, Hanak.
Woman's podium: Kintner, Buhl, Harmony.
