VIENNA AIR KING
£ R:Thomas Genon
rain hit the town hall square.
After a two run format the top
eight riders each received their
cut of the 10,000 Euro prize
purse. The biggest share went to
Brett Rheeder – the Canadian’s
unbelievable performance
shocked the crowd and left the
judges no choice but to award
him the victory. After a big crash
in practice, it was uncertain
if Rheeder would even ride in
the finals, but he came back
strong and raised the bar to an
unreachable level. His second
and winning run started with a
sweet Truckdriver from the stepdown drop, then a huge Backflip
Tailwhip, followed by a Cork
720 and a super clean Frontflip
Barspin to finish. With Rheeder
safely in first position the judges
were left with a difficult decision –
who should stand with him on the
podium?
Szymon Godziek’s second
run was packed with enough
awesomeness to place him next
to the King in second. His run
consisted of a Truckdriver from
the drop, a Backflip Tailwhip then
a dialed Cashroll on the second
set and then finishing strong
with a big Frontflip. Since he
was the best-placed athlete not
yet qualified for Red Bull District
Ride, his performance also won
him a wild card for the Diamond
Event in Nuremburg, Germany in
September. Already qualified for
Nuremberg, Thomas Genon also
showed a smooth and technical
run. “La Frite”, as his friends call
him, dropped in with a Truckdriver,
then a Double Tailwhip, followed
by a 360 Tailwhip and a 360
Downside Whip. All in all, a truly
dignified podium!
£ 1. Brett Rheeder 2. Szymon Godziek 3.Thomas Genon
Sunday’s final was not the only
draw dropping freestyle mountain
biking the Austrian crowd was
treated to over the weekend. On
Saturday afternoon the crowds
enjoyed a unique demo when
the entire rider line-up, including
pre-qualifiers, dropped in
consecutively to form an insane
mega-train, which flew over the u
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