The largest slopestyle mountain biking competition in the world, Red Bull Joyride, closed out the final day of the weeklong Crankworx Whistler festival today at Whistler Blackcomb Mountain. Dubbed ‘Slopestyle Sunday’, fifteen of the world’s best slopestyle athletes went head-to-head in a gravity-defying showdown infront of 30,000 spectators packed into the Whistler Plaza for the season defining contest and a main event of the Red Bull Signature Series.
Canadian Brett Rheeder tricked, flipped and tail-whipped his way to a deserved victory. The Joyride “King” Brandon Semenuk was deservedly dethroned in style. A course preview in shiny 4k resolution AND with 306 degree wizardry can be found here. Check out Rheeder’s run below:
It was a day to forget for Semunk after finishing with two low scoring attempts. His three year win streak was ended after Rheeder capitalised on his shortcomings to achieve an impressive score of 93.
“It’s such a surreal feeling. I’ve been struggling since 2012 and after facing so much pressure last year and having two crashes, this has been a long time coming.” Rheeder said.
“I was still very nervous going into today. The conditions weren’t ideal but as soon as I dropped in, everything just goes away and it’s just you and the bike.”
Thomas Genon from Belgium finished runner-up with a score of 91.20. His second place attempt below:
17-year-old Joyride debutant Max Fredriksson placed third with 89.80. Take a look at how the teenage shredder got it done:
The radness of the Redbull Joyride 2016 can be seen below with the full highlights from the day’s action:
More info on the event can be found here.