The inaugural Red Bull Joyride Freeride Mountain Bike competition at Kokanee Crankworx promised to be a game changer and today’s qualifiers did not disappoint. After being postponed for a day due to rain, 16 riders went all out to try and land one of the 6 spots for Tomorrow’s final. After the first run of two, it was apparent the judges had their work cut out for them as run after run the competitors pushed the envelope of what is possible on a bike while negotiating the brand new course designed specifically for this year’s event. The results were posted with the 15-year-old Canadian phenom, Anthony Messere, taking the all-star line up by surprise and deservedly earning top spot as he led from his first run and never relinquished it. His imaginative lines, hard charging style and seemingly bottomless quiver of tricks catapulted him into the lead and left the rest of the field playing catch up. “It feels great! Going into tomorrow’s final I’m feeling nervous but I love the course, it’s really fast! For today I had a rough plan of what I wanted to do, I just wanted to get it done and did, so I’m really happy I could follow through with it.” Today’s qualifying athletes will join the 10 athletes invited directly to the final based on results from previous Crankworx and Freeride Mountain Bike Association World Tour events.
The start list for Saturday’s final is a star studded line-up of the best Freeride Mountain Bike riders in the world:
Top 6 Athletes from Today’s Qualifiers:
- Anthony Messere (Surrey, BC)
- Geoff Gulevich (North Vancouver, BC)
- Cam McCaul (USA)
- Tyler McCaul (USA)
- Jamie Goldman (USA)
- Greg Watts (USA)
- Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP) - Added due to pre-qualified DNS
Ten Athletes Prequalified:
- Cam Zink (USA)
- Mike Montgomery (USA)
- Casey Groves (Kelowna, BC)
- Kelly McGarry (NZL)
- Sam Dueck (Chilliwack, BC)
- Yannick Granieri (FRA)
- Brandon Semenuk (Whistler, BC)
- Darren Berrecloth (Qualicum Beach, BC)
- Martin Soderstrom (SWE) – DNS
- Sam Pilgram (GBR)
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