Vienna, January 28th 2014 – Vienna, the what-was-capital of the historical, long lasting monarchy will crown a new monarch on April 6th 2014: the VIENNA AIR KING! As the highlight of Austria’s biggest Bike Festival, the ARGUS BIKE FESTIVAL, this Silver Event will be a prominent part of the FMB World Tour circuit.
The “King of dirt jumpers” will be enthroned after a 2-day battle, from April 5th to 6th right in the heart of the inner city. An expert jury will take on the role of the king’s maker, deciding who will take the noble title. The athletes will have three massive jumps to show off their flow, style and impressive tricks. Located between the historical Rathaus and the old Burgtheater, this backdrop has established the contest as one of the most “photogenic” bike events of the year. Of course, what is such a great contest without a buzzing atmosphere – not to worry – a crowd of roughly 100,000 spectators attending the ARGUS BIKE FESTIVAL will ensure the adrenaline is pumping throughout the event. With FMB World Tour points up for grabs and the eyes and cheers of spectators set on the riders – they will be pushed to give it their all!
The rider line-up comprises of 20 invited FMB World Tour “top dawgs”, plus around 40 pre-qualifiers. During the pre-qualifying on April 5th, ten of the 40 riders will be selected to advance to the qualifying round and compete with the well-established set riders for the overall prize purse of 10,000 Euro. Dirt jump and slopestyle stars like Sam Reynolds (third in 2013), Thomas Genon (second in 2013) and the incumbent VIENNA AIR KING Brett Rheeder have staged some impressive battles for the VIENNA AIR KING title in the past. The good news: All three have confirmed their participation for 2014! Russian crowd pleaser Pavel Alekhin amazed us with his technical skills last year, with a spectacular world premiere trick, his backflip barspin to barspin to tailwhip. Needless to say, that incredible stunt secured him the Best Trick award.
It is anyone’s guess what awesome tricks the riders have in store for us at this year’s edition. However, it is certain that the spectators can expect some big names and a royal mountain bike show in the city center of Vienna! (more detailed information about the rider line-up will follow soon.)
The application period for pre-qualifiers has already started and is open until February 28th. Young guns and non-invited riders, motivated to ride at VIENNA AIR KING can send an application including a short riding edit to: viennaairking@rasoulution.com (it should also contain a short description of the rider, including age and origin, former contest results, eventual sponsors as well as at least one portrait shot). Since there is only a limited amount of starting places available, the organizers reserve the right to select the starting positions in the prequalification.
For further information: