For Jill, competing in 4 events paid off as she extended her points lead for the overall Queen of Crankworx title. Wins in Slalom and Pumptrack, 2nd in Whip-off, and 5th in Downhill puts her in prime position coming into Crankworx Whistler in August for the series final.
JILL KINTNER…..
“Crankworx was a beast in France with 4 events to manage. Conditions were relentless, and with practice, qualifiers, racing, and clean up, I was pretty spent in the end. It all turned out well and I was able to gather a bunch of points towards the overall , and in general it was nice to get to ride so much variety and test my skills in nearly every discipline.
SLALOM...
Slalom (1st):
"They kept the slalom old school and basic, apart from the wood ramps, but I think the fact that it was so muddy really upped the difficulty. Having to charge into a rut to make enough speed for the first jump was exciting. I really enjoy slalom and felt good from the first lap onward, so it was fun:).
WHIP OFF..
Whip Off (2nd):
"Whip off was pretty scary with a wet run-in to a massive wooden ramp, but I made some progress on my whips and was able to claim 2nd. The first time hitting these jumps is always the worst, but once the jitters go away it’s ok. Good to be pushed out of my comfort zone a bit by Casey, who has whips dialed, and get a little tweaked for the fans. Needless to say, I have a bit more work to do getting sideways.”
PUMPTRACK..
Pumptrack (1st):
"After two delays, a hail storm, and some blow torching, pumptrack was a day late but in pretty good shape. They mixed cement into the soil and were tarping the whole thing with the rain, so we had a pretty nice looking set up under the mountains. I think it could still be more tech with the turns and design, but it was rad, and good to see fresh faces. Highlight was Anne-Caro's return after beating her sickness, inspirational for sure.
DOWNHILL....
DH (5th):
Downhill was pretty savage slinging mud on full spikes and flat pedals. Ruts like those are hard to recreate, so it was good to make the most of it to figure it out. I learned more each run how to let the track slow me down and let it flow a bit, but it was still kind of a roll of the dice come finals. I didn’t get much time to practice maybe 5 runs total, and knew the least mistakes would win, but my run was far from perfect and it turned into just survival. Regardless of the result, I had a good time, and am happy to gather a massive amount of points this week towards the overall.
Big thanks to Tris (mechanic) for keeping bikes clean and running sweet, and Bryn for all the love and support running around making sure I was dialed.
NEXT UP: NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS- MAMMOTH!!