Swedish slopestyle athlete Emil Johansson has kicked-off the new bike season with a bang: For the first time in his young career, he landed himself on the podium of a FMB World Tour Diamond Event: his third place at Crankworx Rotorua catapulted him in the top three of the FMB World Ranking. On top, Johansson secured himself the support of numerous partners: with the backing of Trek, SRAM, Rock Shox, Industry Nine, Bell, Chromag, Maxxis and Ridestore, Emil has a bright season outlook ahead of him.
Since last year, Emil Johansson’s life has changed completely: after having successfully competed at his first FMB World Tour events and having signed with Munich-based sports marketing and communication agency rasoulution in 2016, he partnered up with several sponsors at the beginning of this year. Having achieved a third place at Crankworx Rotorua is the result of focused training and utter determination. His practice tactic is to ride as much as possible and to always keep his tricks fresh.
Emil Johansson:
It was such a big thing to compete at Rotorua. Since the winter season kicked in, I hadn’t done any big jumps and this was the first big event. My first run wasn’t the best one, but the second run was much better. I tried to focus as much as possible to be at a right mindset. Before dropping in, I just try to go with the flow, seeing what goes on at the minute and then just go.
With a very promising career ahead of Emil, it did not take long for brands to recognize the talent of the youngest member of the “Swedish Connection”. It was only at the beginning of 2017, when Emil signed with prestigious bike manufacturer TREK. Already having settled in with his new TREK bike, his goal for this season is competing at all FMB World Tour Diamond Events.
Emil Johansson:
I love my bike! It´s nice having a slope bike in bigger competitions, and the overall bike works perfectly with all the components on it. Thanks for the support to all of my sponsors. To think that I had only one season of riding, and for all of them to believe in me means a lot.
Having joined the prestigious C3 project of TREK Bikes, Emil is now part of a strong team including Slopestyle legends Cameron McCaul, Brandon Semenuk, Brett Rheeder, Ryan Howard and Tom Van Steenbergen. Furthermore, Emil is extremely happy to be joining SRAM’s team of athletes which provide their riders the best tech support at the major FMB events.
Fans who would like to see Emil ride or meet him in person, have the opportunity to do so at the following events:
- April 28-29 –
Swatch Rocket Air, FMB World Tour Gold Event - May 24-28 – FISE World Montpellier, FMB World Tour Gold Event
- June 8-11 – 26TRIX Leogang, FMB World Tour Gold Event
- June 14-18 – Crankworx Les Gets, FMB World Tour Diamond Event
- June 21-25 – Crankworx Innsbruck, FMB World Tour Diamond Event
- July 6-9 – GlemmRide, FMB World Tour Gold Event
- August 11-20 – Red Bull Joyride @ Crankworx Whistler, FMB World Tour Diamond Event
- September 1-2 – Red Bull District Ride, FMB World Tour Diamond Event
Swatch Rocket Air, FMB World Tour Gold Event
FISE World Montpellier, FMB World Tour Gold Event
26TRIX Leogang, FMB World Tour Gold Event
Red Bull Joyride @ Crankworx Whistler, FMB World Tour Diamond Event
Red Bull District Ride, FMB World Tour Diamond Event
Tarek Rasouli, Rasoulution’s managing director:
I am very pleased that we started working with Emil Johansson last year. I have been watching Emil on social media for over four years and I am absolutely amazed by the speed of his development. Coming out of nowhere and winning several wildcards at some top events and now ranking already in the top 3 in the world seems like a fairytale, but Emil dedicates his time to bike riding and it pays off.
You can follow Emil´s progress via Facebook and Instagram:
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Photos: Rich K photography