Summary: Season finale of the "Norwegian Pumptrack Series"

Hallingdal Rides
27 Sep. 2021
4 min reading

Updated: 29 Sep. 2021

The overall guns were in place for this year's season finale, and it was a blast of a competition in fresh autumn conditions at Geilo. Annika Pettersen came to the final with a solid grip on the overall victory, while much was still open on the men's side - with 65 points between series leader Michael Thomson and Petter Dyrdahl in second place. After a total of 3 runs on the 30 balls and 8 doses in the final course, history's first unofficial Norwegian champions in pumptrack could finally be crowned. Both children and juniors were once again on the starting line, and showed that the next generation will soon be knocking on the door to fight in the overall standings.

See all photos from the day at the bottom of the story!

Elite ladies:

With victories in all three previous national series rounds, for Annika Pettersen it was really just a matter of finishing to collect the few points necessary for overall victory. When series leader Eira Stavanes had also prioritized the national downhill championship, things were already decided before the starting gun went off. But there was still a victory in the series round and 5,000,- at stake, and it turned out that Annika wasn't going to be safe in the season finale. Pettersen beat most of the girls and boys this afternoon in Geilo, with a time that would have been good enough for 4th place in the men's final. Joline Johansson was back on the start line at Geilo, and even though newcomer Synne Christensen just managed to squeeze ahead of Johansson by less than 5 tenths, 3rd place at Geilo was still enough for her to climb up to 3rd place in the overall standings.

Elite women's final, Geilo:

Annika Pettersen: 20.875
Synne Christensen 23.435
Joline Johansson: 23.913

Overall elite women (4 out of 4 series rounds), top 5:

Annika Pettersen: 800 p.
Eira Stavanes: 425 p.
Joline Johansson: 300 p.
Vilde S. Svendsen: 270 p.
Nellie Aabech: 265 p.

Unofficial Norwegian champion in pumptrack, Annika Pettersen! Photo: Magnus Grönberg

Elite men:

Michael Thomson came to Geilo as the favorite and dominated the competition. In the preliminary rounds and the final, Michael delivered the two fastest times of the day, and it was only Sixten Simonsen, former winner of two of this year's regional series rounds in Hallingdal, who seemed to have the speed to chastise Thomson. It was driven to the limit, and for Sixten it unfortunately resulted in an exit in the final. Petter R. Dyrdahl had to defend his second place in the overall standings and therefore had pressure on him before the day. As it turned out, Dyrdahl delivered a masterful performance in the final, and eventually ticked in for his best score of the season: a great 3rd place, which was enough to secure second place in the overall standings. The battle for the podium at Geilo was historically even - and only 5 hundredths separated Tobias Christensen (2nd place), Petter Dyrdahl (3rd place) and Adam W. Karlsen (4th place). It must be said to be worthy of a final!

Elite men's final, Geilo:

Michael Thomson: 19.840
Tobias Christensen: 20.844
Petter R. Dyrdahl 20:863
Adam W. Karlsen: 20:897
Aksel Stenberg: 21:178
Sixten Simonsen: DNF

Overall elite men (4 out of 4 series rounds), top 5:

Michael Thomson: 560 p.
Petter R. Dyrdahl: 435 p.
Tobias Christensen: 300 p.
Sixten Simonsen: 235 p.
Isak Osmoen-Prange: 220 p.

The podium from the 4th series round in Geilo. Petter Dyrdahl (2nd) and Tobias Christensen (3rd) swapped places in the overall standings. Photo: Magnus Grönberg

Overall result list, Norwegian Pumptrack Series 2021

Junior (9-12):

The juniors have really shown the way in this year's series, with solid courage and superb skills. In the junior classes, there's no competition for overall points, and although it's fun to reach the final and the podium, that's not the most important thing. There's just as much cheering as pedaling, and that makes for a great atmosphere. We've also seen a solid core of young cyclists return round after round. Eira Ravnaas has participated in all four rounds of this year's regional pumptrack series in Hallingdal, and Sunday saw her first victory! Thea Sindalsen and Oline Grøndal followed behind her. The boys' class has been dominated this year by Leander Bunes, who won the first three rounds of the series in Hallingdal. David W. Karlsen has been among the fastest all season, and Sunday finally saw his first victory! A perfect end to the season, and we're already looking forward to following the duels in the junior class next year.

Junior final, Geilo (girls):

Eira Ravnaas: 26.830
Thea Sindalsen: 27.306
Oline Grøndal: 27.902
Mie Spilleth: 28.711
Ella Grøndal 30.604

Junior final, Geilo (boys):

David W. Karlsen: 21.948
Leander Bunes: 22.410
Joakim Borgenhov: 23.379
Emilian Bunes: 23.530
Mikkel Svendsen 24.175
Samuel Haugeplass: 24.948

Photo: Magnus Grønberg

Photo: Magnus Grønberg

Children (0-8):

The children's class was the largest of all the classes at Geilo, and the kids really rock the pumptrack! We got to experience everything from balance bikes to lightning-fast bmx's, and the first participant in the Hallingdal Pumptrack Series history on a scooter. It's always so cool to watch the kids give it their all with full cheers from the spectators - and a good example of why we think pumptracks are the best activity arena there is. Everyone can have just as much fun here - whether you're a pro or a 3-year-old just learning to ride a bike!