Vienna Air King is the traditional curtain raiser to the mountain bike season. It is big, it is very clever and it's live on redbull.com/tv this Sunday at 2.15pm (CEST). Redbull.com spells out a few things you ought to know about the MTB freeride fest...
Andreu
Spanish rider Andreu Lacondeguy is at the forefront of MTB freeriding as he continues to push the boundaries of the sport. Click here to see what happened when Andreu went Down Under to hit 2008 Dew Tour Champion Cam White’s huge dirt-jump line in Canberra. Other athletes to watch out for on Sunday include German mountain bike maestro Benny Korthaus and Swedish sensation Martin Söderström.
International
The Vienna Air King is an international dirt jump competition, which has been held every April in Austria for the past six years. Attracting over 40 professional riders from 15 different nations, Sunday's event is also expected to pull in a crowd of more than 100,000 spectators.
Riders
On Saturday, April 2 the qualification will begin. Some of the world’s best riders get two runs each to show their best tricks. The 15 riders with the highest scores will progress through to the finals. Successful riders will be given three runs each in Sunday's main event as they try and prove themselves worthy of being crowned Vienna Air King 2011.
Kick-off
Vienna Air King acts as the annual season kick-off event in Europe in conjunction with the ARGUS Bike Festival – Austria’s biggest bike event. Competitors will hope to get the season off to a flying start, literally, with some big flips and tricks.
Individual
The original concept of MTB freeriding was one of individuality. There should be no set course, no goals and no rules to abide by. The only imperative is that you make your way down the trail with the most creative line possible. At Vienna Air King, judges will award marks according to the following criteria: Difficulty of Tricks, Execution, Overall Impression and Amplitude.
North Shore
No, not that North Shore, the other North Shore, the one in Canada's British Columbia! Widely recognised as the birthplace for man-made obstacle courses, trail building pioneers used fallen logs to ride down and rock faces to jump off to enhance the freeride experience and lay the foundations for MTB freeride.
Gnarly
The 2011 course will have a completely different layout to those in past years. The now legendary wooden launch pad will feature a high drop in front of the city hall tower. Three massive dirt jumps and the final quarterpipe await in the direction of the city ring / theatre. And for the first time, the new course orientation features an overall incline enabling the riders to gather more speed and do even higher jumps.
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