Crankworx Whistler cancelled again for 2021

One day after Whistler Bike Park officially opened for the 2021 season, Crankworx announced Whistler would not host its annual festival there in 2021.

Worry not, though. Plans are already in motion for 2022. August 5-15, the world of mountain biking will descend on Whistler for a week of events, including the 10th anniversary of Red Bull Joyride.

Big festival, short time frame

While B.C. has started easing its health restrictions, enough that WBP could open (albeit with long lines), hosting Crankworx is a major ordeal. It’s not just races, but a bike show, rider destination week and – with Crankworx Joyride capping off the week with thousands of spectators – a major public sporting event.

The uncertainty and timeline of gradually lifting Provincial Health Orders, it was decided, leave Crankworx waiting until 2022.

“To our riders, core media, festival partners, and fans, we know it’s been tough. Mountain biking is both a career and a passion for many, so to lose an event that I know means so much to so many people…it’s been tough for everyone,” says Darren Kinnaird, Managing Director of the Crankworx World Tour. “We have been exploring our options for Crankworx Whistler 2021 since last summer. We held on to the possibility for as long as we could, while working on alternatives. The province of British Columbia is on a good track and is in the process of lifting restrictions, but unfortunately there’s not enough certainty or lead time to pull off the festival for this year. That said, we’re hard at work on some exciting things to get riders and fans excited this summer, so watch this space.”

What happened in 2020

This is the second year Crankworx Whistler is being cancelled. The 2021 event also called off due to COVID. Crankworx Rotorua 2020 took place before the pandemic. A smaller version of Crankworx Innsbruck was postponed to late 2020 and held without live spectators.

In 2020, Crankworx Whistler was replaced by the three-week Clif Crankworx Summer Series. That brought together top Canadian talent from across disciplines for live-broadcast events. Finn Iles and Mark Wallace from downhill went up against Crankworx specialist Bas van Steenbergen and enduro racers Remi Gauvin and Jesse Melamed. Miranda Miller and Andreanne Lanthier Nadeau raced against Casey Brown and Vaea Verbeeck.

Crankworx 2021

What’s left of the Crankworx World Tour? Innsbruck is all set to kick the series off in June. Rotorua is back on the schedule, but with a new late-season date.

Crankworx Innsbruck: June 16-20, 2021

Crankworx Rotorua: November 1-7, 2021