Bas Van Steenbergen At Silver Star
There are a plethora of medals given out at Crankworx each year. Medals for male and female riders alike, in age brackets from 13 to 40+, for the Air DH, Giant Slalom, Enduro, and Fat Tire Crit, amongst others. And if you were paying attention to the aforementioned medals and their recipients you’d notice a certain distinctive name kept cropping up in the results – van Steenbergen. Whistler Bike Park has always been a proving ground for riders. Stars like Paul Basagoitia and Anthony Messere were formed in the pressure cooker that is Crankworx. This year was no different.
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Bas van Steenbergen, 18, and younger brother Tom, 16, affectionately christened the ‘van Steezburgers’ by Brad J., are two of the most talented young riders I’ve seen anywhere. Bas’s bronze medal in Dual Slalom came against a World Cup-calibre field stacked with stars like Mitch Ropelato, Kyle Strait, and Troy Brosnan. Bas was also top five at the ‘Unofficial Whip Off World Championships” along with Thomas Vanderham, Tyler McCaul, and Brendan Fairclough. Bas was also Junior Expert overall champion at the Northwest Cup DH series.
The precise etymology of the name van Steenbergen is traceable back to Holland. So it’s pretty much inevitable that we’ll see a few comments related to Goldmember from Bas’s friends – ”Isn’t zat veird?” The van Steenbergen’s are truly international: Bas was born in America, Tom was born in Holland, and now the family lives in Canada. So I guess it makes sense that Bas knows Silver Star inside and out. It’s basically a third home!
Mon 15th Oct, 2012 @ 12:47 pm
