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Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Belgrade, Serbia - 16 September 2006
Jamie Goldman won the Red Bull Vozi bre slopestyle bike freeride event at Kalemegdan fortress in Serbian capital in front of Lance McDermott and Niki Leitner.
20-year-old Californian Jamie Goldman from Santa Cruz is the winner of first international mountain bike slopestyle freeride event held in South-Eastern Europe. British rider Lance McDermott, also 20, finished second and a year older Austrian Niki Leitner finished third.
On a gray and windy day crowds surrounded the course that was built of wood by German “bike carpenters”, following the terrain inside the fortress walls. Gaps, drops, boxes, a spine, a wallride on the very edge of the fortress wall, a North Shore style elevated ladder … and finally a large step-down of some 5 meters over a gap, with a kicker option for more airtime, followed by the last box and a quarterpipe overlooking the river. Add an almost 360º view of Belgrade and surroundings, hip-hop beats pumping and riders flying though the air and you can get some idea of the atmosphere.
24 riders from Europe, Australia, Canada and USA were on the qualification starting list. After two runs only eight of them were selected to ride in the final. Goldman was the top qualifier in front of McDermott and Pascal Breitenstein of Switzerland.
With the wind picking up and under threat of rain the format for the final was changed. Instead of a tournament style elimination the spectators saw two final runs with the better by each rider used as his final result.
Niki Leitner from Vienna was the surprise of the first run after qualifying 5th. He did an X-up on the start gap, a backflip on the first box jump, a superman on the spine, a suicide no-hander on the big step-down, an indian air on the last box and another X-up in the quarterpipe to finish. Czech Damjan Siriski followed, then Pascal Breitenstein with a big 360 on the first box, a no-footed can-can on the spine and backflip on the last box and a one-hander in the quarter. Both failed to beat Leitner’s score and none of the three improved in their second run.
Goldman did it all in his first and only final run before choosing not to try again as the wind was picking up. He started with a big back flip over the first box and continued with a tailwhip on the spine and a no-footed can-can off the ladder. On the kicker option over the big step-down from a higher to a lower fortress wall he executed another breathtaking backflip that already earned him top score in qualification. Followed by a superman seatgrab on the final box, it was enough for a victory and the first prize of 4000 euro. Jamie missed both Red Bull District Ride events this season with a broken hand.
McDermott was the only one of the top four improving in the second run. He pulled off a front flip on the first box, a move that ended with a crash in his first run. He continued with a 360 on the spine, an X-up from the ladder, a backflip on the last box and a flair in the quarter. Enough for a convincing second.
Variations on the large step-down were making the difference today as we didn’t get to see many due to the size of the jump and the windy conditions. But only combined with a good show on the rest of the course. French rider Christopher Hatton drew a huge applause with a brave 360 on the step-down in the qualification, but messed up the rest of his run and didn’t qualify.
Jamie Goldman, before climbing on podium and shouting “Belgrade rocks!” into the microphone: “A super good event. The course was built so well that we were able to coast into all the big stuff. There was much enthusiasm in the crowd and I was super psyched. I didn’t know what to expect here in Serbia. It is so much different to anything I have seen but great.”
Lance McDermott before starting to party: “From day one here I was a bit nervous about the course but once I started riding it was OK. I was still a bit scared of doing a front flip on the box, it was my biggest front flip ever. It is my first time here and it’s amazing, I am having a really good time. Now it’s time to go party!”
Niki Leitner before being mobbed by girls: “I hurt my ankle in practice and wasn’t sure I could ride. I don’t get much chance to ride things like these and I was a bit scared. Then I also had luck with the wind. The event and the location are perfect. Like District Ride, only in a smaller place. It should get even bigger next year.”
The first Red Bull Vozi bre slopestyle freeride event, following last year’s racing edition, ended up being one of the top five competitions of this kind in Europe this season.
Final results:
1 Jamie Goldman (USA) 35.1
2 Lance McDermott (UK) 33.8
3 Niki Leitner (Austria) 27.5
4 Pascal Breitenstein (Switzerland) 26.3
5 Mischa Breitenstein (Switzerland) 24.8
6 Damjan Siriski (Czech Republic) 22.9
7 Ralf Schupp (Germany) 19.5
8 Brandon Semenuk (Canada) 15.0
Not qualified for final:
9 Niels Peter Jensen (Ger), 10 Michal Marosi (Cze), 11 Chris Smith (UK), 12 Joscha Forstreuter (Ger), 13 Christopher Hatton (Fra), 14 Niko Vink (Bel), 15 Andi Wittmann (Ger), 16 Pierre Eduard Ferry (Fra), 17 Gary Penman (UK), 18 Nathan Rennie (Aus)
http://www. redbullvozibre.com 
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
 Results
1st Cam McCaul 2nd Darren Berrecloth 3rd Eric Porter 4th Ryder Kasprick 5th Alex Pro 6th Neil Meier 7th Ross Measures 8th Ross McMaster
Stay tuned for more photos to come !!
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