Aussie Ladies Takeover Cairns Crankworx Podium

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An Aussie wins her first Crankworx Gold in the first ever Speed & Style Cairns.

You couldn’t dream of a better script and 25-year-old, eight-time Australian BMX Champion Harriet Burbidge-Smith delivered us the fairy-tale.

“You have some wins, and it’s cool, but that one was special” said Harriet Burbidge-Smith who went into the final run 0.94 seconds behind reigning Queen of Crankworx, Canadian Vaea Verbeeck.

Crankworx Podium
Australian's Harriet Burbidge-Smith and Caroline Buchanan finish on the podium at Crankworx Cairns (Photo: CTrahan)

The Aussie threw down her second run and managed to pull out some smooth backflips and find her flow right onto the top step of the podium. “It was a combination of everything,” explained the Red Bull rider.

“The flips are a big thing for me. It’s a new thing for me, so to get them in every run, that’s still a battle for me. They feel good but it’s still scary, which maybe takes off the pressure ‘cause I’m not thinking about racing, I’m just thinking about getting that dialled. That, and I haven’t had a good Crankworx win this year, so that felt really good. And to do it in Australia is really sick.”

Caroline Buchanan
Caroline Buchanan finishes third in Speed and Style at Cairns Crankworx (Photo: CTrahan)

Fellow Aussie legend Caroline Buchanan, who finished third, despite having been sidelined after tearing ligaments in her shoulder just 4-weeks ago after a gnarly crash at District Ride in Germany, said “I didn’t know I was coming here until a few days ago.

"The last few weeks have been straight rehab. I really wanted to get here, this is an event that I wanted to race in. I have never been able to compete in a Crankworx in my home country.

My parents haven’t watched me compete for 3 years, so this was one I wasn’t going to miss, I wasn’t going to sit this one out.”

In the men’s side of the draw we saw Aussies Luke Parker and Mike Ross dig deep into their bag of tricks delivering epic stoke for the crowd but international riders were too strong with Tomas Lemoine (FRA) took home his ninth (yes ninth) win in Speed & Style, ahead of Garret Mechem (USA) and Anthony Messere (ITA).

Results: Speed & Style Cairns

1. Tomas Lemoine (FRA) // Harriet Burbidge-Smith (AUS)
2. Garret Mechem (USA) // Vaea Verbeeck (CAN)
3. Anthony Messere (CAN) // Caroline Buchanan (AUS)

Full results: www.crankworx.com/results/

Verbeeck now pushes to the top of the Queen of Crankworx standings, while Lemoine solidifies his lead.

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