When Tom van Steenbergen finished his run at Red Bull Rampage this year, it wasn’t his highest scoring run ever. It didn’t put him on the podium, as he has in the past, or win best trick. But just getting to Utah and making it to the finish line was one of the most impressive accomplishments at Rampage.
Why? At the same event last year, he crashed and shattered his hips. Fans around the world witnessed the crash, which was broadcast live on Red Bull TV. But few know how hard the recovery was. It took three months just to start walking again. But, to van Steenbergen, the mental side of recovery was far more challenging.
His fellow riders agreed and awarded him the McGazza Spirit Award for riding in this year’s event.
“Coming back after an injury like that is insane. That would have been insanely difficult for him, to go and do a clean run. But I’m so proud of him for doing that,” Brett Rheeder said of his fellow Canadian when we interviewed him about his Rampage win. “He’s never held back, ever, and this year he held back. His future in Rampage is very bright and I think that’s one of the best moves he could have ever done.”
We talked to Tom van Steenbergen about recovery, his beautiful custom bike, returning to Rampage, and learning to move forward by backing down.
Canadian MTB: Your run at Rampage this year really starts at last year’s event. You had the high of that flat-drop front flip, which won Best Trick, followed seconds later by a devastating crash. That’s a lot to happen all at once. How have you processed those two things happening at the same time in the months since?
Tom van Steenbergen: That was the hardest part. It’s one thing to get hurt and have to deal with the injury. It’s another to get hurt after the biggest accomplishment of my career, landing that front flip. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome to even commit to doing that trick. Then actually doing it in a run and, right away, everything is taken away from me. That was by far the hardest part. It was almost tougher than the actual recovery itself.
That was a potentially career-ending injury as well. You were quite positive right away about getting back to the bike. But did you ever doubt that that would be possible?
Yeah, it was the first time where I’d actually been in the hospital and had to ask the surgeon what…
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