Red Bull Hardline Canada: Vermette wins at Cypress

American Asa Vermette won the Red Bull Hardline final at Cypress Mountain, near Vancouver, in 3:30.061. It is his third consecutive Hardline victory, and according to Canadian Cycling Magazine he is the first rider to win on all three of the event's tracks: Wales, Maydena and Cypress.

The final classification

• 1. Asa Vermette: 3:30.061
• 2. Lachlan Stevens-McNab: 3:32.681 (+2.620)
• 3. Oli Clark: 3:32.801 (+2.740)
• 4. Tegan Cruz: 3:34.596 (+4.535)
• 5. Michael Delesalle: 3:36.422 (+6.361)
• 6. Dane Jewett: 3:37.987 (+7.926)

Charlie Hatton (3:38.953) and Hugo Frixtalon (3:47.858) complete the top eight. Two New Zealanders, Stevens-McNab and Clark, share the podium with Vermette. It was a dry, sunny day with a big crowd.

Jackson Goldstone's crash

Canadian Jackson Goldstone, the downhill world champion and fastest rider in seeding, was the last man down. He was 1.5 s ahead of Vermette at the first split, then lost control on a section that was not one of the track's big features. He is classified 15th in 4:56.921.

Vermette stretched his lead through the lower sections, beyond 2 s, while Clark had been 0.4 s back at the first split and 0.5 s back at the third.

Retirements and disqualifications

According to MTB-News, three riders did not finish (Tayte Proulx-Royds, Tuhoto-Ariki Pene and Jack Menzies) and four were disqualified: Felipe Agurto, Jakob Jewett, Lucas Cruz and Bernard Kerr. No reasons are given.

Canadian Cycling Magazine adds some detail:

• Proulx-Royds had a tyre blown off on the opening jump; Pene and Menzies had punctures.
• Jakob Jewett and Lucas Cruz passed on the wrong side of a course marker.
• Bernard Kerr crashed heavily near the bottom, off a wooden takeoff.
• Finn Iles lost the front end in a corner, was unhurt and finished his run (13th in 4:16.140).

Only one woman on the start list

Gracey Hemstreet, the only woman entered, rode a clean run and finished 16th in 5:32.027.

An extreme track

Cypress Mountain offered huge wooden features, steep chutes, loose corners, a 42-foot road gap and a lily pad section. The track did not spare any of the favourites.