Event, News, Race Coverage, Red Bull Rampage - October 15, 2016

Relive Red Bull Rampage 2016 in Mtbr Live Blog Replay

Live Blogging Rampage.

Rampage is going on live! For those of you that can’t watch along at work because you boss is a jerk, I’ll be trying to live blog the action…So please excuse any typos. Let’s do this!

First Run

Bearclaw drops in first! How fitting. This guy has been here since the very beginning. Judges score him a 70.66.

Semenuk moves into the lead with an 84.33.

T-MAC and Bearclaw share the same line. The judges score him a 76. Both Bearclaw and T-Mac had fairly conservative first runs, Looking forward to them styling it out on their next run.

Carson Storch! This young American also teamed up with T-Mac and Bearclaw on building this massive line. Each of the riders where only awarded 75 sand bags and allowed to bring two diggers, so teamwork was essential. He just laid down a huge 360 and took the hot seat with a 79.

The second build zone at Rampage was built up by James Doerfling and Graham Agassiz. Their drop in is one of the gnarliest things ever. Doerfling made it down alive, but a couple of bobbles cost him points with the judges. He’s awarded a 59.66.

Oh no. Aggy just went down hard. This is the man I was hoping to see win it all today. He’s being attended by medical staff right now. He cleaned his drop in chute perfectly but missed the landing on a huge 360 drop.

Aggy evacuated from Rampage.

Aggy has been evacuated for medical evaluation. Such a bummer.

Semenuk moves into the lead with an 84.33.

Now we’re moving into the next zone. This is where most riders have built their lines. First up, Semenuk. He threw in a massive amount of huge tricks, flat drop spin, backflip can, and more. Judges loved it. He moves into the lead with an 84.33.

And now Tom Van Steenbergen. He’s one of the youngest riders here. This is his first time doing a full top to bottom run and he scores a 73.33, just outside of the podium.

Brett Rheeder slipped a pedal. He’s going to skip the rest of his run, walk back up, and throw down on his second and final run.

Antoine Bizet is one of those guys you should never underestimate here. Last year, he was on a Rampage winning run when he attempted a double back flip near the bottom. He didn’t stick the landing and ended up in the hospital. Fingers crossed he finally cleans whatever crazy run he’s dreaming up. Right now, he’s waiting for the wind to die down. Each rider gets a ten minute window.

Antoine has decided to pass due to wind. He’ll move to the back of the line. Next up, Thomas Genon.

Thomas is a slopestyle rider from Belgium, but he’s looking more and more comfortable on the red cliffs of Rampage. He landed each of his features perfectly. He moves into third with 77.66. Sounds like he’s pretty happy with that run, but may mix a bit more into his final run.

Current leaderboard.

Here’s the current leaderboard. Lots of riders still to go.

Pierre Edouard Ferry (PEF) drops in. He’s one of the oldest riders here today. He threw in some racer style, high speed, yet lots of flow. So good. Judges give him a 74.33, which puts him in the top five.

Kyle moves into third.

Kyle Strait is a two time winner here at Redbull Rampage. He’s riding a bottom section he’s sharing with Cam Zink. He just threw a surprise backflip off a huge stepdown. First time he’s thrown this trick in a Rampage run. He’s scores a 78.33, good enough for third.

Is anyone other than Semenuk going to push into the 80s?

Zink is now up on course. He retired from slopestyle earlier this year..Good thing Rampage is technically a freeride event. He just went down on a massive 360. It appears he either went to deep in the landing or over rotated, either way he somehow landed on his feet. He’s now standing with his wife and daughter. It looks like he may be nursing one of his hands.

Here’s one of my favorite riders, Andreu Lacondeguy. He’s a former Rampage winner, finished in second last year. He’s awarded a 75.33, moving into 6th.

Norby! Solid run, but he came up short on a backflip at the finish line. He dusts himself off and heads into the finish area. Earns a 55 even with a crash. He should be able to improve on that in his second run.

Conor crashed during practice and had to take a few days off.

According to announcer Cam McCaul, Conor MacFarlane’s run is the gnarliest on course. He had a bad crash in practice as evident by the fresh scars on his face, so he didn’t have significant time on course.

Inches short.

He came up inches short midway through his run. Hard crash. But he’s brushed himself off. Conor is already heavily bruised from his crash earlier this week, so this may be it from him today.

Rémy Métailler is a World Cup DH racer with a freeride streak. He probably rode the course top to bottom faster than anyone else on the track. He’s awarded a 66.33, which puts him in the top ten. You need to finish in the top ten to guarantee yourself a spot at next years Rampage.

Kyle Strait isn’t the only 2x champ at Rampage. Kurt Sorge is also a 2x winner and he just threw down. Huge air. Huge style. High technical factor. This is going to score high.

Current standings after run 1. Only Antoine left at the top.

Kurt is awarded a 78.66. Moves into third.

Remeber Antoine Bizet? He passed on his turn, hoping for the wind to die down. He’s back at the start gate.

HE LANDED A DOUBLE BACK FLIP!!!! First time at Rampage. Redemption. Could not be more stoked for this guy. He’s had so many injuries the past few years, but he overcame his fear. Amazing. He scores an 81, not quite high enough to dethrone Semenuk, but only the second score in the 80s today.

Anyone else think Antoine was underscored?

Second Run

That’s the entire field. Logan Binggeli, Brendan Fairclough, and Sam Reynolds did not start/withdrew from the event. Onto second runs. Bearclaw is back at the starting gate.

Looks like the wind is picking up. Bearclaw was blown a bit on the Green Goblin. Just a short ways further, his front wheel washed out.

T-Mac is now facing a tough decision. The wind is blowing, but Tyler has more tricks in the bag. He has room to improve on his first run.

There are worse places to crash.

Tyler gets blown around a bit, ends up losing steam, and cases a jump near the bottom. He won’t improve on his first run.

Carson cleans his second 360 attempt.

Carson drops in right after Tyler on the same line. Cleans that massive 360 again, but cases at the bottom. He’s sitting in third right now. Will it hold?

Doerfling and Aggy shared this terrifying drop in.

Doerfling’s line doesn’t have any huge slopestyle tricks thrown in, but it delivers on raw technicallity. While alot of the riders have beautifully sculpted lines, Doerflings chute is pure terror. Judges don’t love it. 60.33.

Semenuk is now at the top. It’s windy, so he’s going to take advantage of the new rules and go to back of the line, try to wait things out. Since he’s currently sitting in first, this also gives him the opportunity to see what other competitors throw down.

Wind be damned, Tom Van Steenbergen just dropped in. Threw a front flip mid run and had a minor washout. Major bummer, because he was probably planning on throwing an even bigger front flip further down. If you’re not familiar with Tom, you know the front flip is his signature trick.

Brett Rheeder slipped a pedal in his first run, so he hoping to go big in his second run. Landed some heavy tricks, but got wind blown on a whip and slipped a pedal towards the bottom. Damn.

Wind is becoming a major problem. Perhaps Red Bull should consider changing the format. Maybe it makes sense to spread finals over two mornings, so they can avoid the afternoon gusts.

Thomas G, the Belgian, drops in. His first run was flawless, but he ups the ante with a suicide no hander. OUCH. Huge crash while attempting a 360 inverted table, but he’s back on his feet. He was looking so good, just under rotated that trick.

Pierre Edouard Ferry hits the eject button on a backflip attempt.

PEF is attacking his second run with the same racer style he displayed on his first run. So clean, but HUGE eject on his backflip attempt. He landed that flip in his first run, but just came off the bike in mid air. Looks like he was trying to do a variation on that earlier flip to improve his score. He seems to be ok.

Cam Zink rotated to quickly off the lip, which caused him to crash upon impact.

Cam Zink sustained an injury to his thumb on that massive 360 crash. His hand is wrapped up and he won’t be attempting a second run today.

This is the moment where Kyle Strait overshot his landing and lost control.

After a long break for wind, Kyle Strait dropped in. He added several new variations, but went too deep into the backflip stepdown and couldn’t hang on.

Andreu is known for his moto inspired tricks.

Andreu had a clean run and added several new tricks, but it wasn’t enough. His score remains the same. The best he can do is 9th.

#Norbsgotrobbed a few years ago. Today, he needs a clean second run to be in contention. Perfect on the 3 drop, but doesn’t carry enough speed to nail that backflip he had planned. He’ll improve his score, but it won’t be enough.

Despite a black eye, cuts on his face, a wrapped up wrist, and huge bruises, Conor went up for more. This guy is all heart.

This event needs an award for having the most heart. After a huge crash in practice and during his finals run, Conor is back at it. Barely into his second run, he crashes again. Super hard. Medical is attending to him. Luckily, he didn’t go off the cliff. He stayed on the ridge. He’s now walking off under his own power.

Wind is gusting right now. Rémy Métailler’s ten minute window has expired, he’s going to the back of the line.

Brandon Semenuk is currently in the top spot. With only Antoine at the top, he’s electing to skip his second run entirely. Does Bizet have something extra in the tank?

Bizet at the top.

It’s confirmed, Kurt Sorge has elected not to ride. Can Antoine take this from Brandon? He’s the last one on course. Let’s go Frenchie!

Last run of the day.

Antoine did not have the speed for another double back flip, but he added a suicide no hander and a step down flip. It’s still not good enough.

I lied. Remi has decided to take a second run. He’s just waiting for the wind. He would have to do something extroardinary to beat Semenuk.

It appears that Brandom Semenuk maybe the third 2x winner Rampage winner. His last win here was in 2008, when he was just 17.

Remi drops in, but stops near the top. It’s the safe call, considering the wind. Brandon is officially your 2016 Champion.

In addition to the podium spots, there are other awards to be handed out. First up, the Kelly McGarry Spirit Award. This one goes to Conor MacFarlane. I don’t think anyone will disagree with that.

Today was a good day for American Carson Storch. He finished in 3rd place today (his first ever Rampage podium) and earned Best Trick honors for that ridiculous 360 drop.

It was even better day for Brandon Semenuk. The 2x Rampage Champ took the top honors and another People’s award. That means he now has two Polaris side by sides to rip around in.