The 10th anniversary of Red Bull Joyride lived up to its reputation as the pinnacle of Slopestyle today. With the largest crowd to date (38,000+ deep), it was elbows out, no wiggle room from the bottom of the Boneyard all the way up to the top where the superheroes of Slopestyle gathered to lay it down.
Emil Johansson effortlessly continued his Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship winning streak, taking his eighth win in a row. To be fair, it only appears effortless. In his words, he puts so much work and time into practicing, taking combinations and adding them into other combinations to create things that have never been seen in the sport.
Surreal! I didn’t think this day would come where the winning streak would last for over three years’ time, and to be back in Whistler again and secure the top spot feels surreal. Honestly, I don’t know where to begin.
Emil Johansson
The fan-voted, satellite dish feature on the course brought out a more playful side to this style boss’ typical competition riding.
I thought the satellite dish was really fun. It’s one of those style of features that we had all spoken about in the past. It lets the rider throw a trick in there which they wouldn’t really do in a contest run. If it would have been straight-on heavy hitters all the way down with big jumps, then there’s no way I would have done a nac nac on a big jump, yet with this specific feature, I feel like it was the right trick for it. We saw riders take advantage of it. For example Max got creative and got three tricks in it which is sick. It’s cool to see Huppi [Lucas Huppert] doing his thing spinning around twice. There are so many different ways to approach it.
Emil Johansson
While not a newcomer to Crankworx Slopestyle podiums, a newcomer to Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler, Timothé Bringer absolutely stomped his first run earning him second place.
First Joyride for me. I’m so happy to be here in Whistler with everyone and get a spot on the podium. This course was really original and had some features that we have never rode before in other competitions, so it was nice to see everyone doing different tricks on these features. It was hard to get the right speed in front of some of the jumps, so we needed to do a lot of practice before. In the end everybody was riding well, and we all did a good job I think.
Tim Bringer
Arguably the crowd-favorite rider on course today was bronze-medalist, and now also ranked first for King of Crankworx, Tomas Lemoine. Tomas set the bar high during practice today when he gapped the entire final feature, overshooting and taking a big slam. The blood on his knuckles was still fresh from the crash when he dropped into his competition run and gave the final feature the send of the century turning two features into one. This impressed the crowd and the judges.
I can’t believe it actually. I can’t believe today. Probably this trip was the best trip of my life. I came with my two childhood best friends, I’ve known them since I was five-years-old – Tim and Max. Being on the podium with my best friend Tim, Red Bull Joyride, it’s like my dream come true. I had another dream here which was to jump the last feature. First day I came here and I just thought about doing this for the last week. I forgot so many tricks during practice just thinking about doing that last feature. I also had so many other events to do and today I had to send everything in one day. I can’t believe everything worked out. I can’t believe I had the energy to try to go for jumping the last feature in the second run and it worked out. It’s probably the best day ever.
Tomas Lemoine
This is the second Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship (SWC) competition of the season. The next SWC comp will be Crankworx Cairns Slopestyle, this October 8th. If Johansson wins either the competition in Cairns or the following one at Crankworx Rotorua, he will once again win the Triple Crown of Slopestyle title. The Triple Crown has only been claimed twice, once by Nicholi Rogatkin, and once by Johansson last year. His win today officially takes any other riders out of the running.
Any course is an evolution of the past and with this course I think we will hopefully see a lot more unique things in the future. It’s all trial and error. This course seemed to work so it’s going to be fun to see where the future goes.
Emil Johansson
Results – Red Bull Joyride
- Emil Johansson (SWE) – 94.6
- Timothé Bringer (FRA) – 91
- Tomas Lemoine (FRA) – 90
Full Results: crankworx.com/results
This has been a huge week for Crankworx Whistler with record crowds. The action isn’t over yet, with still one more day to go of the festival. Tomorrow, Crankworx Whistler will wrap with RockShox Canadian Open DH which will be live on Red Bull TV.
About Crankworx World Tour
About Crankworx World Tour
Crankworx is the ultimate experience in mountain biking. Born in Whistler, B.C. in 2004, Crankworx has evolved into a multi-stop international festival series. The Crankworx World Tour brings together the best mountain bike athletes to compete in elite-level competitions in a variety of disciplines. Crankworx World Tour festivals also host races for amateurs, Kidsworx contests for young riders, participatory events, and celebrations of mountain bike culture, all while showcasing amazing destinations.
Official website: crankworx.com
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