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Cincinnati Day Two
The Action Sports World Tour at The Bank of Kentucky Center
By Jared Souney
The second and final day of competition in Cincinnati had something for every Action Sports fan. Skateboard Vert Finals, BMX Vert Finals, BMX Big Air Triples Finals, FMX Demos, and even a live musical performance from Kardinal Offishall on the Maxell Music Stage.
The boys of BMX vert are always a crowd pleaser, and the massive 14-foot tall Action Sports World Tour halfpipe (a favorite of the riders) coupled with top riders makes for a great show. The biggest names in BMX Vert including Jamie Bestwick, Simon Tabron, Jay Eggleston, Kevin Robinson, Steve McCann and Jimmy Walker were in the house and looking to take home the top spot and the big bucks. Huge tricks like 540 tailwhips, 900s, double tailwhips, and Zack Warden's bike flip had the judges working for their money. Second place finisher Steve McCann threw down a huge run which could have easilly taken home the win on most days. He had all the big tricks including huge flairs, double tailwhips and even a 540 tailwhip... but then Bestwick dropped in. Bestwick rarely loses a competition on the vert ramp, and he wasn't about to let today be an off day. An absolutely huge run complete with the biggest alley-oop tailwhip I've ever seen put him at the top of the podium once again.
The new skateboard vert format which debuted yesterday left us with five men for todays final round. Each skater got five attempts to complete the best run of 10 walls that they could muster. It made for a fast paced contest, and took a bit of the pressure off (traditionally they'd get three 45 second runs). "I'm just going to go for it" said Jean Postec before the contest began. "The worst I can do is fifth!" Well, Postec couldn't quite put it together and fourth was the best he could do today, ahead of Anthony Furlong. Danny Mayer, Alex Perelson and Pierre-Luc Gagnon all put together solid ten wall runs and the podium was all theirs. PLG has been unstoppable the past couple years, and two solid runs packed with 720s were enough to put him on top once again followed closely by Perelson and Mayer.
The BMX Big Air Triples event is a format exclusive to the Action Sports World Tour. The huge roll-in to two sets of jumps, followed by a quarterpipe forces riders to throw down back to back tricks in a head-to-head format. Groups of two riders were paired based on rankings in yesterdays Prelim. Each pair then got two runs to better the other rider. The winner of the head-to-head moved on to the semi-final, and then a final round of three riders. After some heated battles, the three riders left at the top of the roll-in were Mike Spinner, Rob Darden, and Zack Warden, who unfortunately through down his best run of the day in the semi-finals (it included an incredible 360 bike flip). A few crashes held Zack back in the final round. Darden's smooth style and originallity managed to edge out Spinner's arsenal of tailwhips and 720s for the win. Darden has had a big year, and despite being a veteran is looking like a whole new Rob Darden. Darden 2.0 perhaps?
Next stop, Seattle. Don't miss the LG Action Sports World Championships October 31-November 2 in Seattle, Washington, where the best riders in the world will compete for the title of World Champion.
Check out the
Photo Gallery from Cincinnati
