There was a road transfer stage to the town of Aspen for stage two, followed by a 30-minute ski lift that took the riders to the highest point of the mountain range. Knowing he was battling with the local favorites, he chased down his rivals after descending 11000ft over five miles he checked in with a time of 14.33.06, which was 2.8 seconds ahead of local Yeti USA factory rider Duncan Nason, with Canadian Matthew Keon in third. For the final stage on Saturday, the riders descended back to Snowmass Village with Killian scooping another stage win by just over one second. Starting in 9th place after the first stage, he was now only 1.8 seconds off Nason's lead.
Unfortunately in stage three his rear wheel suffered major damage from a huge compression with one the many boulders in the stage. However, a repair job was needed so using basic tools and a handcrafted wood mold, the rim was reshaped to make the wheel last for Sunday.
Day two opened with the longest stage of the series. With determination, Killian pulled another win by just 0.24 of a second from local Jasper Woolley. Nason was 1.8 seconds adrift.
In true sportsmanship nature, Killian waited at the end of the stage for his main championship rival, Vojech Blaha, to loan him some tools as Blaha had taken a crash earlier in the stage and damaged his bike.
After almost 70 kilometers of racing, Killian now led by an unimaginable 0.00.04 seconds.
The final challenge was the famous Bonzai DH stage. The victory on the day was not sealed, as the Bonzai has been know to rob victory from riders over the years due to its severity. Killian took some calculated lines on the final stage and clocked in 0.71 seconds behind Nason to give Killian victory by just 1.50 seconds after the two long days racing.
Killian's beaming white smile was well earned knowing he'd taken the locals on their home turf and extended his World Series lead to 240 points.
Round seven takes place in Whistler in less than two weeks, where he'll face Canada's top riders on their terrain. And yes, the repairs to the Hope Wheel paired with his WTB Convict tires survived the day!
Congrats, Killian!