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From setbacks to summits: Emil Johansson’s Red Bull Rampage rebirth
After battling injuries and returning to slopestyle, Emil Johansson is now ready - and eager - to take on the world’s most intense MTB competition. Will third time be the charm at Red Bull Rampage?
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Trading the sculpted terrain of slopestyle for the sheer cliffs of Utah, Sweden’s Emil Johansson is one of 18 male riders who qualified for Red Bull Rampage 2025. With 14 Crankworx titles to his name, Johansson is undoubtedly a Slopestyle legend - yet Rampage is an entirely different beast.
Red Bull Rampage demands that riders carve their own line down a cliff-face, often with no margin for error - loose rocks, steep drops and remote terrain make it unforgiving. Johansson admits, “Red Bull Rampage definitely gives me more butterflies right now [considering] where I am in my career. I have more than 15 Crankworx Slopestyle starts behind me but only two Red Bull Rampage starts. This event is exciting and I feel like I develop a lot every time I show up.”
Tune in to watch Johansson and the men's freeride elite tackle Utah's desert on Sunday, October 19 at 10.30am MT (4.30pm UTC / 6.30pm CEST) on Red Bull TV - the women’s final airs on Friday, October 17 at the same start time.
Johansson's last time out at Red Bull Rampage was 2023
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Quick facts about Red Bull Rampage
Johansson’s third time at Red Bull Rampage
He’s been here twice before - in 2019 and 2023 - with his debut run called “a rookie’s run for the history books,” and his performance four years later winning “Best Style.” Yet, for all his freeride promise, Johansson says his expectations for this year were minimal: “I’ve had no real expectations ahead of this year, as I’ve not known what the site … looks like. So, in a way, I’ve felt pretty relaxed leading up to it.”
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Experience Red Bull Rampage through the eyes of Emil Johansson
Get a glimpse into the Red Bull Rampage experience with Emil Johansson.
He observes that since 2019, he’s grown in confidence and perspective: then, he was a wide-eyed newcomer; now, he can approach the event with purpose: "A lot has happened since my first time here. Back then, I was a sponge – I was here to soak in all the information and experience that I could - I was here to learn. It means that today I can take on the event completely differently."
Johansson and crew out scouting this year's line
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
The crew have eight days to build a new line from scratch
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
A lot has happened since my first time here … Today I can take on the event completely differently
Recovering and rebuilding
Because of overlapping competitions and injuries, Johansson has only managed two starts out in Utah’s desert. He returns in 2025, six years after his first experience, full of experience and, finally, injury-free.
He reflects on the last two years of broken bones, surgeries and rehab: “Some days it’s been hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, for sure, but you just keep at it and suddenly you are out the other end. Biking is what I love doing so then the work feels worth it.
In August he put down a full Slopestyle contest run for the first time in two years – and won! “Winning Red Bull Joyride feels pretty unbelievable after the last two years, but my goal was always to get back on top. The plan was to be back for Crankworx Australia in May, but then I crashed and broke my ribs and collarbone out there. It kind of lowered my expectations for Whistler, so taking the win was beyond expectations”.
Taking the Joyride win was "beyond expectations"
© Mason Mashon/Red Bull Content Pool
Celebrating his fourth Red Bull Joyride win
© Robin O'Neill/Red Bull Content Pool
More than just a slopestyle athlete
While Slopestyle has defined much of Johansson’s competitive identity, he insists freeriding is just as valid. “Biking is so much more than just slopestyle, and freeriding events are something I really enjoy taking part in. … It definitely gives me a bigger buzz at the moment - the challenge of it and learning so many new things.”
Slopestyle’s pristine features contrast sharply with the raw terrain at Rampage. and Johansson embraces the unpredictability.
Perfectly shaped and groomed slopestyle courses are very different to...
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
… the rugged terrain of Washington County, Utah
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
The joy of the competition is making something unrideable rideable - and doing it as well as possible
What to expect from his run
Johansson aims to blend everything - big drops, technical segments, bold tricks - into a line that feels fluid and powerful. His all-Swedish dig team have eight days to hand-sculpt the route (no power tools allowed).
He’s realistic about success. “If I manage a top-to-bottom run and build the line I want, that’s a win in itself. Then, if I manage to land a run on top of that, it would be amazing. … The joy of the competition is making something unrideable rideable - and doing it as well as possible.”
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