Vaea Verbeeck lands on podium in Dual Speed & Style
Crankworx Innsbruck steps up the thrill-factory heading into the weekend
Photo by:
Clint Trahan / Crankworx
In a thrilling night of Speed & Style racing in Innsbruck, history was made and fans were entertained. Robin Goomes pulled a Crankworx-first trick in women’s racing, highlighting high-paced Friday of competition.
Crankworx Clif Speed & Style Innsbruck – Women’s Gold Medal
Women’s Speed & Style: History in the making
The women’s Speed & Style, only the third in Crankworx history, came down to a race between Vaea Verbeeck and Jordy Scott. The Canadian, looking to earn another Queen of Crankworx crown. The American, hoping to stay undefeated in the new discipline.
In the end, it was Scott edging out an advantage. Scott takes the gold, and a solid lead in the Queen of Crankworx points race.
“I can see the tricks are just progressing,” said Scott, referring to Robin Goomes historic backflip, “so I’m going to have to step up my game and switch things up. I’m looking forward to it getting harder and the progression growing.”
While Goomes raced in the bronze-medal match-up, she still set a new bar for the women’s Speed & Style competition. The New Zealand rider landed the first backflip by a woman in Crankworx competition. Then landed it five more times on her way to fourth on Friday.
Crankworx Clif Speed & Style Innsbruck – Men’s Gold Medal
Men’s Speed & Style: A tale of two Thomas’
In the men’s final, it all came down to the Thomas’. Thomas Genon and Thomas Lemoine, that is. The two slopestyle riders were pulling out all the trick, at speed, all day.
In the gold-medal match-up, Lemoine eked out a slight advantage in Run 1. But, neck-and-neck with Genon in the final, the French rider decided he needed something special.
“I felt a little bit slow,” Lemoine said after the race, “so I was like ‘ok, change the trick’…Until the end I was just focused on that, waiting for it and praying it’s gonna work.”
On the final jump, Lemoine pulled a massive double backflip. Landing perfectly, Lemoine walked away with gold. His fourth Speed & Style win in five years.
“I’m still in shock. I’ve been doing a lot of double flips recently, but I’ve never done it in a race. It’s so stressful to go so fast and push so hard for it.”
