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Airing the 72-Foot Canyon Gap at Red Bull Rampage
Thursday brought the last chance to hit the gap before Friday's qualifier, so six riders let it rip.
3 min
Airing the Canyon Gap at Red Bull Rampage
Thursday evening brought the last chance to send the canyon gap before the qualifiers.
It takes a big person to lead, especially when they’re leading the world’s best big mountain riders over a 72-foot gap. During Thursday’s practice session at Red Bull Rampage, Canadian rider Tom van Steenbergen proved he is that person. After patiently taking his time to properly warm up to the exposed cliff drop that serves as his run-in to the canyon gap, van Steenbergen stayed off the brakes and easily cleared the canyon gap. In fact, he overshot it slightly, landing 15 feet past the sweet spot. He still made it look smooth.
“I thought someone else was going to hit it,” he says in the video above. “But everyone just kept … not hitting it.”
It’s the second year in a row the young rider offered up his big jump skills to show everyone else how it’s done. In 2013 he showed up to Red Bull Rampage as a rookie, and proceeded to show everyone up by being first to clear the canyon. After several exciting videos put out in the past year — most notably a massive dirt-to-dirt frontflip for Anthill Films — van Steenbergen’s name is on everyone’s lips.
After qualifiers — which kick off at 10:00 MT today — we expect that name will ring out even louder.
Szymon Godziek and Louis Reboul scope the canyon
© John Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
Louis Reboul launches the canyon gap
© John Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
McGarry's bike after his canyon gap crash
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
Szymon Godziek sails over the canyon gap
© John Gibson/Red Bull Content Pool
To see if the canyon gap king qualifies, stay tuned to the official Red Bull Rampage site, which is also where you can watch the webcast of finals on Sunday, September 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. MT.
You can also watch the finals on Red Bull TV through its iOS and Android applications, as well as on Apple TV, Xbox 360, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Samsung Smart TVs.
Join the #Rampage conversation — follow Red Bull SLC on Instagram and Red Bull Bike on Twitter and Facebook.
