26TRIX winner Trond Hansen
30 riders from 12 countries rocked the 26TRIX in Leogang, Austria last weekend and, with two stunning runs, Norwegian Trond Hansen took first place and earned himself €3500. Andi Wittmann from Germany showed technically very difficult combos on the most tricky parts of the track and won the Oakley Sick-O-Award.
On Thursday evening the bottom part of the Bikepark Leogang was packed, with riders arriving from across the globe. The 26TRIX track consisted of nine jumps featuring huge doubles, hips, step ups and downs. Competition started with two qualifying runs on Friday afternoon, with the top 15 riders into two final runs followed by two more final runs on Saturday. The best two runs of all four were summed up to determine the winners.
Trond Hansen shot his tricks like out of a machine gun: superman seatgrabs, 360 one-foot tabletops, backflips, tailwhips, 360-opposites and frontflips. His runs were super clean and smooth. It was no question that the judges had him in first place.
Trond was pretty happy winning the 26TRIX, saying: ”I'm just super stoked. I already had a great season, but winning the 26TRIX is some kind of special for me. Furthermore, the big air time here in Leogang is a good preparation for the upcoming Rampage.”
Martin Söderström
Sam Pilgrim made his way on the podium doing tuck no hands, tailwhips, 360-table tops, backflip x-up one footers, but crashed twice during the finals on two double tailwhip attempts.
Results
1st Trond Hansen, Specialized, NOR
2nd Amir Kabbani, Cannondale, GER
3rd Sam Pilgrim, Diamondback, UK
4th Linus Sjöholm, Scott, SWE
5th Andi Wittmann, Giant, GER
6th Mischa Breitestein, Kona, CH
7th Andrew Taylor, Versus, USA
8th Pascal Breitenstein, Kona, CH
9th John Alm Högman, Scott, SWE
10th Sam Reynolds, DMR, UK
11th Yannick Granieri, Giant, FRA
12th David Acedo, Mondraker, ESP
13th Grant Fielder, Kona, UK
14th Martin Söderström, NS Bikes, SWE
15th Lluis Lacondeguy, Kona, ESP
The Oakley Sick-O-Award went to the rider with the best skills and most props, and it was a tight battle between Andrew Taylor's backflip on a step down jump that didn't give him much time to rotate and Andi Wittmann's jump in the finals at the first step-up: Andi pulled a nice and clean 360 x-up one foot at the first step up, followed by a backflip x-up one foot at the big double after the hip jump. Sebastian Grobholz, Alex Dropsy and Bibi, who are all former or active BMX pros, had no other chance but to dedicate the Oakley Sick-O-Award to him.
Andrew Taylor
For further information about the Bikepark Leogang, head to www.bikepark-leogang.com
