Of the biggest names Semenuk was the most disappointed rider as he crashed hard on both runs and took himself out of contention despite rumours of a big line and big tricks.
British representation came in the shape of Brendan Fairclough who acquitted himself well, but didn't threaten the podium. Gee Atherton was out for surgery
Wish I was out in the desert right now...daaamn
— gee atherton (@gee_atherton) October 13, 2013
as was last year's winner, Kurt Sorge. The day came down to a battle between Tyler McCaul, Cam Zink, Andreu Lacondeguy and Kyle Strait and Kelly McGarry. The competition looked to be likely to decided on the biggest sections of the course, with the Oakley Sender the traditional big trick obstacle, and the huge 73 foot canyon jump.
Strait was the first to take it up a bit on the biggest line on the sender and jumped it in his first run with a suicide no-hander, slotted into a big run to take the lead. Cam Zink followed down and stunned the crowd with the biggest backflip ever seen from the same platform. His run had little else and so his third place after the first run left everyone looking forward to see what else he could bring to the party.
McGarry went last and threw down something different to mix it up with a massive flip on the canyon jump, taking second. Tyler McCaul was, perhaps, making a statement by building a dirt feature that was as big as the Oakley Icon sender and pulling it big. It was all set up for round two.
The mountain took it's toll as riders who are the best in the world crashed huge and tried to avoid plummeting down the ridiculous drops. This is an event where even the “easy” transitions are absolutely massive and medical staff are on hand to carry a good few utterly broken riders off the mountain.
Tyler McCaul's line took him into second place after his second run as he nailed it perfectly. But there was a wind-hold that put a pause on the action for a while and even threatened to prevent a full range of second runs. Zink and Strait were waiting at the top of the mountain hoping to drop in as the weather held off the competition for over an hour and they tried to keep focus on the runs they hoped to lay down.
Finally, as a bit of an anticlimax, the event was called off due to the weather, The scores were taken from the first round runs, which put Kyle Strait as the winner, deserved due to his run, but with everyone clearly wishing they'd seen just what Cam Zink would have pulled off if he'd had the chance. Zink finished third despite making history with his huge flip. McGarry pulled off an exciting second place thanks to his canyon flip.
A slightly disappointing end to another fabulous competition that can't have failed to leave everyone with their mouths hanging open at some point. There will be some new big clips doing the rounds of the internet this morning.
A
No comments:
Post a Comment