Red Bull Rampage is the biggest event in mountain biking. It’s on NBC – need we say more? As expected, this year was just as exciting as the last – if not, more.
When we first arrived at the site it a less refined state it seemed as if the organizers had taken the event too far. As the riders poured their blood, sweat, and tears into building their respective masterpiece lines, everything began to come to fruition and each section went from looking grim to manageable.
This year, there were a handful of injuries – most were minor. K.C. Deane and Louis Reboul suffered some big ones though. Hopefully they heal up fully and quickly. Let’s get into the action.
Carson Storch went out early and looked good for his first run…He blew a backflip on his second run however, and didn’t improve on his initial run.
Mitch Chubey had a good run and a bad run. He just squeaked into the top 10.
Tom Van Steenbergen had a ripping run then came up a bit under rotated on a front flip over the 73′ canyon gap.
Jeff Herbertson killed it for a Rampage newcomer. He cleaned a backflip on the 73′ gap twice. Once was a close call, but he still ripped. 7th on the day. Rookie of the year.
Poor McGazza. After overshooting the canyon gap a couple days ago, Kelly strapped it up and rolled on with his line. His first run he overshot again but rode it out. His second run he under rotated a backflip and front wheel cased. The noise his front wheel made when his tire blew out was horrific. He walked away from it. Heavy stuff.
Louis Reboul had probably the worst crash. He made the same error as Kelly, but didn’t make it all the way over the lip of the landing. He got carried off in a stretcher. We’re hoping he is ok.
Brendog had a couple of ripping runs. He seemed to hold back a bit after being rattled by a big crash yesterday. 8th place – just like last year.
Gully looking good – dropping in just to the right of Cam’s drop.
Szymon Godziek stomped his canyon flip again, just like in qualies.
Cam Zink stomped his 360 off of a MASSIVE cliff with a super steep landing. Nailed it twice. He got dinged slightly for lacking fluidity in his run, but brought home the best trick award just like last year…There was no questioning that. That’s a lot of diaper money CAM!
Rheeder and Norbs hit the same line for a good chunk of their run. Same line multiple styles. You can see why Rheeder scored higher, but Kyle still had a ripping run.
Pierre Edouard Ferry had a gnarly entrance up top, but a big crash yesterday had him a bit off the back.
Thomas Genon was super stylish but not enough to crack the top 12 and not have to worry about qualies next year. Oh well – he looked super comfortable on a big bike.
Paul Bas had a ripping run. Super exposed up top as you can see here. Great big mountain riding from the Reno ripper.
Brandon Semenuk was….well – he was Semenuk. Amazing performance. Great tricks, big lines, incredible style. Peoples choice awards. $5,000 richer.
We were all super bummed to find that Aggy hurt his knee late last night on a dumped 360. Heal up quick dude! Next year.
This year was all about Andreu. He crushed it, top to bottom. He was super psyched to finally win one of these things.
See you next year Rampage. It just gets better and better every year.
