© GT Factory racing
© Giles Towler
© Crankworx
Countdown to Crankworx with Wyn Masters
With less than 2 weeks to go the star of Wyn TV tells us what to expect
Since it first began in Whistler in 2004 Crankworx has grown to be one of the biggest events in the mountain bike calendar, with extra dates added in Rotorua, New Zealand and France.
This year Les Gets becomes French venue for Crankworx, taking over from Les Deux Alpes who hosted the event for the previous three years.
Events throughout the week will include the European Whip Off Championnships, a Pump Track Challenge, the Dual Speed Air and Style race, the Crankworx DH race and a Slopestyle competition as well as concerts in the evenings and the opportunity tor ride with top World Cup racers.
For many it will be their first chance to witness Crankworx first hand. We asked GT Factory Racing’s Wyn Masters what to expect.
Wyn, a New Zealand native, has been racing bikes since he was eleven years old, eighteen years in total and has been racing in Europe since 2008. He came 3rd at the 2015 Crankworx Rotorua Enduro race and other career highlights include New Zealand National Champion, 2nd at the Oceania Championships and 11th at the Fort William World Cup. His first trip to Morzine in 2008 involved another trip to the World Cup race in Maribor, Slovenia. After crossing three countries and 1200 km to return to Morzine, Wyn realised he had forgotten to get his bike picked up and was forced to hitch hike all the way back to collect it from a hotel basement where he had left it (only to find that the hotel owner had lowered the seat and was letting his son ride it around!) He’s come a long way since then and is very happy with life on the GT Factory Racing Team, telling us he is “Loving them, it’s good times all around!”
Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule, Wyn will not make it to Crankworx Les Gets but hopes to visit at some point. What will he be riding if he does make it? “Pleney single tracks were my previous favourite, but I love the area for going on big one day missions. Not many bike parks that have so much available from one lift pass!”
Wyn has been to six previous Crankworx events and has high hopes for Les Gets “They are all different as each place puts their local flavour on it. I think Les Gets is the perfect spot with the amount of people there riding in the summers already it should be huge!” Anyone who hasn’t been to Crankworx before should expect “Good times night and day and getting to see the best in the world compete!”
Crankworx offers a very different atmosphere to World Cup races. “Crankworx is a lot more chilled out than the World Cups and has a good vibe. I think Les Gets will be an awesome one, sucks to be missing it!”
As well as competing in the DH event at previous Crankworx, Wyn thinks watching the slopestyle event is one of the highlights, and judging by the huge mounds of dirt that have already been moved around, as well as the northshore obstacles that have been put in place, it should be a great spectacle in Les Gets.
Wyn has a few predictions for who will win each event in Les Gets as well, “Slopestyle it’s hard to bet against Semenuk, but I’d love to see Rogatkin take it. DH, I’m going for George Brannigan. Speed and Style, I think Martin Soderstrom. Pumptrack, either Adrien Loron or Matt Walker.”
Wyn has a busy summer ahead of him, “Riding and racing a lot, doing a full World Cup and EWS [Enduro World Series] season, so not that much time for anything else.”
His sponsors, other than GT Factory Racing, are Shimano, 100%, Schwalbe, Stans No Tubes, Fox Suspension, Crankbros, Extreme and DeWalt.
Crankworx Les Gets runs from 15th to 19th June 2016. If you're in the area you should absolutely come and watch, and if you can't make it this year, the good news is that Les Gets will be hosting the event in 2017 and 2018 as well.
