Iles’ Summer Series sweep: Finn goes three for three with Sun Peaks win

The final week of Crankworx Summer Series started with a sweep at Sun Peaks Bike Park. Finn Iles hung on through a mid-race mechanical to win his third Crankworx enduro in three weeks, but by just nine seconds.

On the women’s side, it was Andréane Lanthier Nadeau reprising her role atop the women’s podium after a fast, and physical day on the bike.

Finn sweeps Crankworx Summer Series Enduro

“It feels really good,” said Finn Iles, who has now won all three Enduro events in the three-week series. “It was a little more up and down than the other ones. I had a mechanical on Stage One that was a  little bit scary, but after that, got my bike fixed and then from there it was sort of like, ride as fast as you can. Stage Two and Three were so much fun that it wasn’t even like I was racing, besides the pedal at the start of Stage Three. From there down I was just laughing and smiling and having a really good time. I made the most of that fourth stage. It was super hard and physical and pedally but I think I held my own and, yeah, held the win.”

While Iles nabbed the win, it wasn’t by much. Jesse Melamed rode to within nine seconds of the World Cup downhiller after over 27 minutes of racing at Sun Peaks.

“I’m stoked. I feel like I’ve been riding this way the whole time, and I feel like I might have turned up the aggression a little bit today. Just kind of letting myself go faster. It’s nice to ride at that speed again and let it go. The trails are so fun, so it was really fun to be going fast. I thought I could get Finn…well actually I didn’t think I could get Finn. I wanted to get close. And I was, so that’s good.”

“Finn is really, really good at riding bikes,” Melamed added.

Last week, it was Melamed stealing a downhill win from Iles in the Kicking Horse DH. While he wasn’t able to reclaim the top podium step in his home discipline, second is Melamed’s best Enduro result of the series so far. After months away from racing, Melamed says it took a while to build back up to speed.

“I know the speed is there. I’ve had great results in the past. I know it hasn’t gone away. I know for me it was just controlling the build and not exploding myself before I could even get to my full potential. That’s why this series is so great ‘cause I’ve been practicing new skills in Dual Slalom and Downhill and then taking it to Enduro. Just kind of going the speed I want to go and not overrace myself. It’s great to have so many races back-to-back-to-back and just allow yourself to ramp up.”

For Melamed, Crankworx Summer Series is putting him back on pace for the return to the Enduro World Series.

“I’ve got that racing edge, the focus is there, and this will be a really good springboard into the EWS.”

Kasper Woolley, who has emerged from Crankworx Summer Series as the breakout surprise talent, landed another podium on Tuesday. It was Woolley’s return to racing after crashing hard in the Psychosis DH last week in Golden, B.C. The Sun Peaks enduro success didn’t come without its share of drama though, said Woolley.

“I came out of the gates pretty good. Won Stage One, second on Stage Two, so, leading after Stage Two. And then, Stage Three was going well but then I crashed, really hard. High speed, caught a pedal. The brush on the side of the trail caught me like a net. It was super gnarly. Happy to seem kind of OK from that, just some whiplash and pretty sore. And then just kind of survival on the last one. Happy to hold on to third but a little bit disappointed with the last two stages.”

Lanthier Nadeau building Summer Series momentum

With 12 races in three weeks, Crankworx Summer Series is a marathon, not a sprint. Andréane Lanthier Nadeau (ALN) seems to be pacing perfectly. After starting Week 2 in Kicking Horse with her first win of the Series in the enduro, ALN doubled up with a win in the infamous Psychosis DH.

On Tuesday, ALN added another win in the first event at Sun Peaks.

“I’m happy about today,” after winning three of four stages. “I think it’s like a social experiment at this point about how many races we racers can do in that amount of time. Yeah, it was super physical. The times on transitions were tight, so I think everyone pushed. Everyone was very tired. I think we’re running on fumes at this point.”

Nine races deep, it was a sentiment echoed by the second-place finisher Miranda Miller.

“It felt like more of a personal battle,” said Miller, who eeked out a two-second lead over third-place finisher Casey Brown. “I didn’t really feel like I was battling anyone. I feel like ALN did a really good job and kind of just smoked us. And then I was just floundering behind. It was a good day. But a really, really hard day. Really hard day.”

“After the first stage I was like ‘screw this, I’m cooked,’” Miller added. “I felt like I was riding so poorly and I was pretty far off the back. And then I dropped into Stage Two and it was a little bit better and I was able to flow with the trail a little bit more and it felt less like just fighting the whole way down.”

Casey Brown landed the final spot on the women’s podium. With her third place in the Sun Peaks enduro, Brown inches closer to Vaea Verbeeck’s points total in the series overall. Verbeeck, the reigning Queen of Crankworx, still sits first, trailed by Brown and ALN.

Iles Enduro win extends his lead in the Summer Series overall points race. The Whistler rider is now solidly out in front of Rhys Verner and Bas van Steenbergen in the race for the $10,000 Crankworx Summer Series prize. Verner, fourth in today’s enduro, moves ahead of van Steenbergen into second overall.

Racing continues Wednesday night with the Sun Peaks Dual Slalom competition. Live broadcasts resume Thursday and Friday with the Maxxis Downhill and Sun Peaks Air DH.

Sun Peaks Enduro Recap: Crankworx Summer Series