They’re calling Red Bull Rampage 2024 the Superbowl of freeride and it’s a pretty good comparison; mountain bikers around the world dropped whatever they were doing to watch the live stream. With wind delays and injuries, the broadcast lasted about eight hours. Epic. But so was the riding.
Pushing the limits
From the very first run, when Brandon Semenuk ate it on a backflip tailwhip, you could see this would be a Rampage that seriously pushed the realms of possibility. And it just kept going from there. The speeds, the squirrellyness and the slams were all absolutely next level.
Bienvenido’s heartbreaker
Seeing Bienvenido Aguado take another hard slam on his first run, was heart breaking. Surviving his wheel-destroying case in practice, then getting back on the horse for the finals, was inspiring so it was a bummer when he couldn’t hold it together. Stoked to see he walked away though. He chose to not take his second run.
Unbelievable saves
The way Carson Storch held onto his over spun 360 drop was nothing short of miraculous.
Kyle Strait’s tailwhip to no-footed landing was such a gnarly highlight. Stoked he held onto it.
Thomas Genon rode was one of the few to get a second run in. He made it count after crashing on his first run.
Reed Boggs made it top to bottom. That’s an accomplishment.
Talus Turk had a solid first run with room for improvement, but the wind shut down his chances of a second run later in the day.
Tom Van Steenbergen’s 60-foot frontflip was full-on nuts. The way he bounced on the landing and still kept it under control was incredible.
Brendan Fairclough’s line was so unique, it seems the judges didn’t now what to do with it. As Geoff Gulevich said during the broadcast, Fairclough may have made his line look too easy. Completing Jordy Lunn’s line from a previous Rampage was icing on the cake, but didn’t put him on the podium.
Szymon Godziek started his run with a front flip, that was soon overshadowed by Steenbergen. But Godziek’s double backflip was so dang steezy; the way he paused after the first flip, spotted his landing then started again was…
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