Munich (GER), August 14th 2012 - With only two Diamond events left on the 2012 FMB World Tour calendar for pro riders’, all eyes are on one rider who has the potential to secure the title after Red Bull Joyride. By no means has his journey been easy, Slopestyle has progressed beyond all expectations this season with the highest ever level of competition in the history of the FMB World Tour. It hasn’t been easy for any of the riders, so let’s take a quick look back at the Gold events and also see what can happen at the upcoming Diamond events.
So here we are, with all the Gold and Silver events behind us and we’re heading to Crankworx Whistler Festival for Red Bull Joyride, the first of two Diamond events. The 2012 FMB World Tour Gold events have been a rollercoaster of competition suspense, highs (for those that rose above the rest) and lows (for the unlucky few that got injured). TSG rider Sam Pilgrim, kick started the Gold events with a win at FISE Slopestyle Montpellier, which advanced into a Gold event for 2012. We then travelled to Winterberg (GER) for the second round, where once again the GB riders, Sam Reynolds and Sam Pilgrim stood on the podium in 2nd and 3rd place. Young star Thomas Genon came close at Red Bull Berg Line but in 2012 it was at 26 TRIX in Leogang, where he was able to put down his technical skills and leave with his first ever win at a Gold event, just beating Specialized rider Martin Soederstroem whorolled into 2nd place.
What followed was one rider’s domination of the top spot on the podium, Brandon Semenuk began his crusade by winning the big mountain contest - Chatel Mountain Style, beating last year’s winner Cam Zink. Brandon then went on to win the Slopestyle event at Crankworx Les Deux Alpes, where he pulled off an amazing backflip over the road gap, which was definitely a trick highlight of the season. His third win was at the Claymore Challenge – ‘America’s backyard’ and the first North American Gold event of the season.
Claymore Challenge was a game changer for the overall ranking. Martin Soederstroem moved up in to second behind Sam Pilgrim and the North American riders began their chase for the title. Brandon was rapidly moving up from 10th to 7th and fellow Canadian, Brett Rheeder threw his hat into the ring. In fact, this young ripper is sure to be a threat for Brandon at Crankworx Whistler. Colorado Freeride Festival was much the same but Martin Soederstroem’s 2nd place finish gave him the lead of the overall ranking and Brandon advanced into 3rd place overall. Last but not least we ventured into the woods of Mt.Washington (CAN) for Darren Berrecloth’s, Bearclaw Invitational. The results of this final Gold event put us where we are today, with Brandon Semenuk leading the FMB World Tour and capable of securing the title at Red Bull Joyride.
So what does Brandon’s closest competitors have to aim for, to deprive him of taking the title at Red Bull Joyride? Here is a breakdown of scenarios, explaining what riders have to do to stop Brandon in his tracks:
Red Bull Joyride is coming up on August 19th at the epicentre of mountain biking - Crankworx Whistler and with only five riders capable of standing in the way of Brandon and the golden Camelbak Better Bottle, the pressure is on to shred the course and nail the biggest tricks. Helping them do just that is Paddy Kaye’s Joyride Bikepark crew who are in charge of building the perfect ripper course. According to Crankworx Whistler the course is going to be a gnarly and “a couple extra large hits will be added, including the cabin roof top drop.” The radical part is both Diamond events will be streamed LIVE thanks to Red Bull Media House so you can watch, what will be history in the making, LIVE through our webcast on www.fmbworldtour.com . With Brandon’s point advantage, if he places 1st at Red Bull Joyride he can be crowned as winner of the FMB World Tour – meaning he can take home the golden Camelbak Better Bottle for second consecutive time. Gold crusted, set in a hand crafted stone base, the Camelbak trophy is definitely a fine award for the winner of such an amazing World Tour.
It’s been a memorable year for the spectators, with riders putting down never seen tricks or trick combos, some of the trick highlights of the season include Martin’s Triple Whip at 26TRIX – Yannick Granieri’s Flip Double Whip which won him Teva Best Trick at the Claymore Challenge – Thomas Genon won Teva Best Trick at Colorado with his 360-truckdriver to tailwhip the first riderever to trick this combo and then there’s Sam Reynolds’ mega Double Flip to Double Whip combo at Red Bull Berg Line – the first and only time we have ever seen these two tricks executed one after another. To re-live the highlightswatch the webcast replays, available on fmbworldtour.com. Our new mid-season video, is now available on our Youtube channel and website, click the link to take a look at the journey we have had so far this season. – The Road to the Title - video
