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Top riders elevate their riding

Wind a factor, but riders still raise the bar — again
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American rider Anthony Napolitan landed this no-hand front flip at Red Bull Elevation finals July 1.

Pity the judges at the second annual Red Bull Elevation BMX dirt jumping contest, which took place this past Saturday before a crowd of thousands.

In the past year the sport has progressed so much that even the athletes themselves don’t know whether a 720 table is good enough to beat another athlete’s front flip one-hander or backflip tailwhip.

"That’s what’s so great about this event," said California’s Luke Parslow, who finished his day in second place. "The judges all like different things, and we don’t know what they like. You have to be smooth and mix it up a bit – it wasn’t just big tricks they were watching it was style."

Based on that criteria Parslow sided with the judges on their decision to give Australia’s Corey Bohan the win this year. "He was flawless," said Parlsow.

Red Bull Elevation took place from Thursday June 29 to July 1, with a training day, a qualifier day with 40 athletes, and the finals with the top-20 athletes. It was by invitation only, ensuring that only the best of the best could compete.

The format is different from other dirt jumping contests with a slope reducing the amount of pedaling required, and larger airs than most contests. The goal of organizer Jay Miron, himself a former BMX champion, was to create a contest that encouraged riders to push the envelope of their sport.

Because of the large number of finalists the top-20 were divided into two groups with riders ranked 11-20 going first.

The highlights of this group included B.C.’s Darren Barrecloth, who broke out 360 after 360 and landed the first 720 of the day, while mixing his routine up with superman seat grabs, cross-ups and other tricks. It was good enough to move him from 14 th in the qualifier to ninth overall.

Fans also got a taste of the future of BMX with T.J. Ellis taking the biggest risks of the day. Ellis incorporated a backflip to frontflip combo on the top jumps, was the first rider to try to backflip the step down jump, and attempted the day’s only double tailwhip backflip. Landings were hard to come by, however, and Ellis finished his day in 17 th .

In the top-10 category, where athletes had four runs each, things got progressively more technical as the day went on and as riders looked to top each other and take the $10,000 top prize.

There were too many impressive tricks and combos to mention but some highlights included T.J. Lavin’s Indian Seat Grab and transfer over the ‘S’-turn berms; Brian Foster’s sequence of 360s on the top airs; Alejandro Caro Ospina’s 720 to 360 combo up top and backflip finish; Cameron White’s tailwhip and 360 line; Anthony Napolitan’s front flip one-hander over the bottom jump; Luke Parslow’s backflip over the stepdown jump to front flip on the last jump, Ryan Nyquist’s run with five 360s and a 720 finish, and everything Corey Bohan did in every single run.

When the dust settled, the judges had to pick the winners.

Bohan was excited about his win, and praised the event, which athletes felt was becoming the premier dirt jumping event in the world.

"Every year they pick a select few riders to do their thing at the Elevation and it’s great, everyone has a really good attitude, it’s friendly, and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it," Bohan said.

Bohan credited his win partly to the fact that he was the top qualifier, and as a result was the last rider to go in each heat. "When you’re the last to go you get to see what’s been thrown down, which was good because the other riders kept upping the ante."

Ryan Nyquist, last year’s champion, snapped up the last spot on the podium this year. He says he enjoys the format, but added that it can be nerve-wracking heading downhill into a set of jumps because of the speeds involved – most jump contests take place on flat ground. He also noted that, as much as riders pushed the envelope, they still held back because of the gusting winds.

"Things definitely went down today, but it was pretty windy, the guys were getting blown around, and I think that affected a lot of us," he said.

"Most of the time you have your run planned out, you only ad-lib when you start messing up and then throw in a couple of easy tricks like bar spins until you get back on track. With the wind it was really luck of the draw, some guys had no wind while some other guys had it bad, so you had to be ready to adjust your run."

The judges also awarded a $1,000 best trick award to Dane Searles for a huge off-camber double tailwhip over the last jump.

Results:

1. Corey Bohan

2. Luke Parslow

3. Ryan Nyquist

4. Chris Doyle

5. Cameron White

6. Anthony Napolitan

7. Alejandro Caro Ospina

8. T.J. Lavin

9. Darren Berrecloth

10. Romauld Bibi Noirot