Local rider takes 14th at Sol Vista Bike Park’s Triple DHip

Big cash purse brings internationally ranked field

This past weekend in Granby, Colo. at the Sol Vista Bike Park, local professional downhill racer Kain Leonard placed 14th in the annual Triple DHip against an internationally renowned field of gravity riders, some of whom are former World Cup champions. Drawn by the $25,000 pro field cash purse given to the race by the town of Granby, some of the world’s best made their way to this small town near Winter Park Ski Resort.
The race followed what is known as a G3 format, where riders typically race two straight downhill events and one event known as a Super Downhill, or Super D, where the courses typically contain more pedaling over the course of the technical descent. The Triple DHip mixes it up with two straight downhill runs over two different courses and a chainless downhill in place of the Super D. The chainless helps determine who can hold their speed through corners and down technical descents without scrubbing too much speed braking and then pedaling to catch back up.
Leonard said of his 14th place that “It’s not where I like to be, but given the training time that I usually get, about one to two hours a day after working all day and the depth of the field, it was a great finish.” Most of the riders who placed ahead of Leonard are professionally sponsored riders who race for a living. Former World Cup Champion Greg Minaar of South Africa claimed the top spot among the pro men, followed by Mick Hannah of Australia in second and Andrew Neethling, also of South Africa, in third.
Also competing from Crested Butte, Nicole Digate took fourth place in the women’s amateur division while Kevin Bates held it down for a solid 18th place in the men’s 19-34 amateur division.
The Tripl DHip at this new elite level also could bring a boost to Crested Butte’s own Wildflower Rush gravity races. Leonard says that most of the riders he talked to were planning on coming to the Pro Gravity Tour event being held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort this upcoming weekend, June 24-26. “It should bring a huge boost to our event,” Leonard said, adding that “Some of those guys are really going to light that course up. People need to come out and watch this event as it’s really going to show off some of the top gravity athletes in the world doing what they do best.”
As for himself, Leonard is excited for this weekend’s race. “I’m always stoked to race on my home track and I hope to do well.”