Recap: A Week of World Firsts and Huge Sends at Audi Nines 2020

Phrases: Audi Nines

A number of world-first methods have been landed on the Audi Nines 2020 introduced by Falken because the weeklong mountain bike occasion drew to a sensational shut. German rider Nico Scholze landed the primary Cordova Flip on a Downhill bike and Italy’s Diego Caverzasi accomplished a Backflip Barspin to Cliffhanger, whereas Swedish powerhouse Emil Johansson dominated the occasion’s contest runs, profitable Greatest Freeride Line and Ruler of the Week.

Right here within the Hunsrück-Nahe bike area close to Birkenfeld, Germany, a group of the world’s greatest mountain bikers gathered from the seventh to the thirteenth of September for a session of the superlative selection. For the third consecutive yr, the Ellweiler quarry—a former stone quarry that’s been transformed right into a top-level mountain bike venue—performed host to a crew of excellent athletes able to push their sport to new heights.

Hungry to get on again on their bikes after months of cancelled occasions, the invited riders wasted no time attending to work on the quarry’s collection of custom-built options. From the expanded Freeride Line and Large Air venue to the brand-new Slopestyle Line, the riders discovered a lot to maintain them busy all through 5 days of continuous movie periods.

The week’s motion culminated with a number of methods by no means seen earlier than in mountain biking. One of many greatest highlights was Nico Scholze’s Cordova Flip, a daring manoeuvre tailored from freestyle motocross through which the rider executes a fairly painful-looking backbend whereas hooking his toes on his bike’s handlebars—all whereas doing a backflip. No small feat.

It feels wonderful to be the primary particular person to ever put down the Cordova Backflip on the downhill bike. I actually like freestyle motocross methods, and I hope we now have a pair extra makes an attempt, perhaps subsequent yr.— Nico Scholze

Scholze wasn’t alone within the “world’s first” class. Italian rider Diego Caverzasi grew to become the primary to land a Backflip Barspin to Cliffhanger on a hardtail bike, whereas Austria’s Daniel Ruso put down a Frontflip Toboggan on his downhill bike and fellow Austrian Peter Kaiser landed a Backflip Barspin to Superman Seat Seize on a hardtail bike. Although it didn’t fairly qualify as a primary, Adolf Silva’s Cali Roll—solely the second ever landed on a mountain bike—proved that the high-flying Spaniard was again in motion after an damage final yr. Add in Antoine Bizet’s Reverse Money Roll on a downhill bike and Paul Couderc’s revolutionary Footplant Flip, and it’s protected to say that the 2020 Audi Nines had extra world’s firsts than you possibly can shake a stick at.

I like this occasion, I like the crew. We’ve got a lot enjoyable collectively, filming no matter we wish, no matter we prefer to attempt. It’s such a great time.— Diego Caversazi

In a traditional yr, the Audi Nines would welcome hundreds of spectators to look at motion sports activities at its best. In lieu of a public occasion this yr, organisers hastened to supply an alternate for followers. The end result: a sequence of Reside Periods hosted on audinines.com all through the week. The Reside Periods provided a number of dwell digicam angles from the quarry, together with point-of-view helmet cameras from riders. The Reside Periods attracted tens of hundreds of on-line viewers all through the week, who took benefit of this particular alternative to drop into the quarry just about together with their favorite riders.

Whereas ongoing journey restrictions prevented a number of high North American athletes from attending, a powerful squadron of principally European riders was capable of make the journey to Birkenfeld. Strict coronavirus prevention measures have been in place all through the occasion, as athletes and employees have been required to current a damaging coronavirus take a look at upon arrival. Your entire occasion group remained in a “bubble” all through the occasion, with minimal exterior contact to forestall viral unfold.

This was one of the difficult years but for Audi Nines, with so many new components for our group. We’re very lucky and grateful that, by the onerous work of our group and the cooperation of native companions, the occasion was capable of happen as deliberate.— Audi Nines founder, Nico Zacek

Greatest Line Freeride: Bienvenido Aguado Alba
Greatest Line Slopestyle: Emil Johansson

Greatest Slopestyle Trick: Lukas Skiöld – Flip Oppo Whip Bar
Greatest Freeride Trick: Adolf Silva – Cali Roll

Greatest Model: Lukas Schäfer

Ruler of the Week: Emil Johansson

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