Faces of Crankworx Innsbruck 2023: Rosa Zierl

Not long now until probably the world's most spectacular mountain bike event makes a stop in Innsbruck: Crankworx is back in town, from June 21 to 25, 2023.

Innsbruck is hosting the Crankworx World Tour for the seventh time - and the only tour stop in Europe. The world's best mountain bikers will once again compete for the titles King and Queen of Crankworx as well as Gold in the Crankworx Slopestyle World Championship. The entire international mountain bike elite, pro racers and downhill teams announce themselves, they will show their skills on the fresh tracks of the Bikepark Innsbruck.

With the two categories CWNext and Kidsworx, Crankworx enables young riders to prove their skills and be part of the mega event. At Crankworx 2022, the Tyrolean young talents performed as a strong team.

Tyrolean Rosa Zierl is already causing a stir in the downhill scene at the age of 14. This year she is allowed to start in the downhill in the U17 category for the first time, the anticipation is accordingly great.

For Rosa, competitions are first and foremost fun. She says herself that a good result at the end of the day is more of a bonus for her, in addition to a good time on the bike with cool people. According to her mom Claudia, Rosa prefers not to miss out on any event and always remains deeply relaxed, not getting as nervous as some of her fellow competitors. Maybe that's exactly her secret recipe that lets her race down the most difficult downhill courses in incredible times. Like recently at the Austrian Championships, for example, where she not only took the state championship title in her class, but her time would have put her near the elite women's podium. So Rosa has already made a name for herself on the mountain bike downhill scene at her young age. Beginnings that could be reminiscent of those of Vali Höll, one of her great role models, who now rides extremely successfully in the World Cup. Would that also be a dream of Rosa's? A shy smile and the answer: "Let's see, it comes as it comes."

Rosa usually rides with her younger brother Anton, who is just as passionate about the sport and is a front-runner in the races. The siblings train regularly with the racing team from the Downhill Club Tyrol - Rosa is the only girl on the team. But that doesn't bother her, she says, but she would like to see more competition in her age group. Coach Celine Blochberger sees great potential in Rosa, especially because you can see how much she enjoys biking: "Rosa's technique on the bike is already insanely good. Her self-assessment is always 100 percent - she simply knows what she is capable of and rides an extremely precise line. The boys can still learn something from her."

The anticipation for the Crankworx in her hometown Innsbruck is huge. This year Rosa is allowed to start in her favorite discipline Downhill for the first time and can thus not only prove herself in her age group, but also indirectly compare herself with the big stars of the scene. She will also compete in Pumptrack and Dual Slalom. Her biggest goal this season? To stay injury-free. Dad and mom Zierl are happy about that, too.

At Crankworx a spectacular show can be expected again, the spectator highlights are certainly the Slopestyle and Whip-Off competitions, but also at the Pumptrack, Dual Slalom and Downhill exciting competitions are guaranteed.

Click here for the program.

Festival passes and tickets can be purchased HERE.