Event doubles as a stop in the Gravity East downhill and dual slalom series
A rider at the Whiteface Mountain Bike Park (Image credit: Whiteface Mountain Bike Park)
This weekend's Whiteface 5K, on August 29-30, doubles as the next race on the Gravity East calendar and the final race on the inaugural US Pro Gravity (ProGRT) Tour. The race is happening at Whiteface Mountain, home to the 1980 Winter Olympic Games near Lake Placid, New York.
"We've built the gnarliest course we could - Hard and technical. But we also have two speed sections where the riders have been topping out at nearly 50mph, that's the speed the Tour de France guys come down a mountain on a smooth paved road," said organizer Mike Scheur.
"But even with the speed sections, only eight guys finished in less than eight minutes last year. A lot of racers think we must have a lot of climbing to make a course this long, but they're wrong. And to prove it, we have a chainless race at the end of the day."
With only the Whiteface 5K to run, Darian Harvey (Cannondale) has established an unassailable lead in the inaugural ProGRT women's downhill standings. And, while the women's title has been decided, Rachel Bauer leads an eight-rider battle for the runner-up spot. In the men's race, no fewer than 13 competitors are still in contention for the downhill title. Chris Heath (Manitou-Hayes) is the current leader, but anything can happen in a season when no rider has won more than one race.
The race offers the largest purse in the Gravity East series, with US$2,000 going for the win. The event also includes a Gravity East dual slalom series race. For more information, visit www.GravityEastSeries.com.
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Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
