It will go down in history as one Australia’s greatest mountain bike moments, a Crankworx Final that had the crowd on their feet and blowing smoke out their ears. It was epic, it was awesome, it was Slopestyle Finals at Crankworx Cairns….
After a rescheduling of the Slopestyle due to weather earlier in the day, the sun ducked behind the clouds and allowed the temperature to drop just for a moment. Finals conditions were near perfect despite a brief moment of rain that threatened to disrupt the event. Cairns had bigger plans and the show went on as the weather made way for the Slopestyle gods.
First runs saw some of the top riders come undone including Emil Johansson who was on an absolutely amazing run before slightly over-rotating on the last jump leading to a heavy landing over the bars. Unfortunately, Emil was unable to take the start for his second run.
Rogatkin threw down a blockbuster run that took the lead early in the piece with a score of 90 before Eric Fedko put down one of the best runs of his career with a 92.75. The other riders weren’t able to come close to the top two and it would come down to their last runs to decide the winner.
As always Nicholi Rogatkin rose to the occasion and put down a stellar run that had the crowd jumping from their seats and screaming from the sidelines – he had taken the lead with a 94.75. Erik Fedko dropped into his second run and looked good from the top but a flat tire on the half pipe meant that Nicholi Rogatkin would take the win.
Finals Results
- Nicholi Rogatkin 94.75
- Eric Fedko 92.75
- Max Fredrikson 88.75
Nicholi Rogatkin is the first Crankworx Cairns Slopestyle Champion and what an event it was. Next year we see Crankworx move the dates for Crankworx Cairns to May 17-21 and it looks set to be another spectacular event.
There is one more day of Crankworx Cairns with the dual slalom set to kick off at 4:00pm tomorrow and you can catch it live on Red Bull TV.
Full Results
