VALKENBURG (Netherlands)- Holland may be a flat country but it will soon be known around the world for having one of the most frightening hills in the history of the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship.
The longest Red Bull Crashed Ice track ever built will be a formidable challenge for more than 120 athletes from 24 nations who will be chasing glory this weekend (Feb. 3-4). Another huge crowd is expected in the southern town of Valkenburg to cheer on a strong new Dutch team trained by Holland's legendary speedskating coach Ab Krook.
19 Wing Comox firefighter Kyle Croxall will be the man to beat after the Canadian ace won an exciting victory in the 2012 season opener Jan. 14 in Saint Paul, Minn. while defending champion Arttu Pihlainen finished a close second. The Flying Finn will be looking to get back on top in the four-stop championship in front of the frenzied crowd in Valkenburg, where he won the first of his three victories last year.
Glenn Bakx of the Netherlands, who led a powerful revival of the Dutch team in Saint Paul with a career-best 16th place, and Bart van Roosmalen, who got a strong 20th place, hope to take advantage of their home track to rise even further in the world's most exciting sport on skates.
The track will be a record 575 meters long with a breathtaking vertical drop of 60 metres; It is nearly 200 exhausting metres longer than the Saint Paul track and starts off with a frightening 50-degree drop at the start that will propel the racers to speeds of up to 70 km/h.
The sport of Ice Cross Downhill demands a combination of agility, skating prowess and fearlessness going downhill. The skaters descend the specially built tracks four at a time, jostling for position as they battle to the finish line while clearing jumps, rollers, obstacles and hairpin turns.
On Saturday starting at 6 p.m. the top two of each heat will advance and the field of 64 is whittled down through four rounds to a final four racing for victory in the final.
After this weekend, the series moves to Are, Sweden on Feb. 17-18 and concludes in Quebec on March 16-17.
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