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Brandon Semenuk wins Red Bull Rampage 2024, the only five-time event winner
The 2024 event turned up the heat with some of the biggest features and sends seen at the freeride mountain bike event.
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At the end of every Red Bull Rampage, it seems impossible to imagine how the riders will take their lines to the next level. After a year of anticipation, the riders return to Utah's red rock cliffs to stun the world (think unimaginable feats like tail whipping off a complex double drop). These moments are why Red Bull Rampage is mountain biking's pinnacle event.
For 2024, Red Bull Rampage revived an iconic venue, returning to the 2018/2019 events site. It is the steepest and tallest of all the previous venues, adding 150ft (46m) of vertical to the start. Here, historic moments were made, and while hints of the past competitions lingered, many of the riders reinvented their lines, making this year distinctly their own.
With the competition being anyone's game to win, Brandon Semenuk fought to the end, becoming the first competitor to clinch their fifth victory. Szymon Godzeik was in second place, and Tyler McCaul was third, joining him on the podium.
Never Count Semenuk Out
Brandon Semenuk's fifth Red Bull Rampage victory is a testament to his calculus, precision, and grit. After a grueling morning wind delay that minimized precious practice time, Semenuk stood atop the start gate, ready to open the 2024 competition. Last year, Semenuk was absent due to a scheduling conflict with his rally car racing. This year, the Canadian had to choose between the rally car and the mountain bike, and ultimately, decided to return to the Red Bull Rampage stage. His absence, though, meant he would be dropping first, and given he'd already won at this venue in 2019, Semenuk had the potential to put down a score that could hold out.
Brandon Semenuk wins Red Bull Rampage 2024
© Christian Pondella / Red Bull Content Pool
Dropping in, Semenuk attacked, putting down a 360 truck driver, a backflip can, a flat spin 450, and Indy Air. At the lilypad, Semenuk landed an opposite tail whip, drawing a collective gasp from the crowd. As he neared the bottom, all the pieces came together until he went for a backflip tailwhip. Unable to bring the bike back around, he bailed, ending his run. Semenuk brushed himself off, eyes on his second run to remedy the mistake.
The wind, however, had other plans. Following the first run, high winds kicked up on the mesa. The riders waited, hoping for better conditions. After nearly three hours of wind hold, conditions marginally improved, but it wasn't perfect. Sporadically, a gust would rip up the ridges, sending the wind socks fluttering, and that's all it takes to knock a rider off their line and into danger.
Brandon Semenuk wins Red Bull Rampage 2024
© Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
Semenuk still saw the potential to put together the run that he wanted. He hiked up and waited at the start gate. Every rider had seven minutes to drop before it moved to the next rider, and the Canadian was willing to exhaust every second to find the best window. Finally, the window came, and Semenuk exuded confidence. Mirroring his first run, he stomped one trick after another, again tail whipping into his lilypad. The flip whip that thwarted him in his first run came together on the 2nd attempt. The entire run earned him a 92.73, narrowly edging out Szymon Godziek to win.
"I really wanted to do a second run, I was bummed out by the mishap on the first run," Semenuk explains. "The result is great, but it's minor in the sense of the experience that this event brings. I have good people around me, and I'm happy to get down the hill."
Part of the experience that Semenuk cherishes is digging alongside his friends Evan Young and Justin Wyper, who won this year's DECKED Digger Award. "Evan's been with me ten years and Wyper about eight. These dudes are some of the most talented builders," he says.
The Flip Heard Around the World
Szymon Godziek wins 2nd place at Red Bull Rampage 2024
© Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
Poland's Szymon Godziek claimed the silver, stunning with a backflip on the biggest drop on the venue. Leading up to the finals, Godziek was firing on all cylinders. During practice, he made history, airing 95 feet from takeoff to landing on his biggest drop. Godziek made it clear he was dreaming big, having tasted the podium once before in 2022 with a 2nd place finish. He hinted that he had plans to either backflip or spin that same drop, which would be the biggest trick of his career.
Szymon Godziek wins 2nd place at Red Bull Rampage 2024
© Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
He brought that same energy to his first and only run, starting with a front flip, followed by a backflip on the Price is Right, a step-down backflip, and a double backflip on his final jump— five flips total in his run. The entire line was daring and had little room for error, but his vision paid off, earning him a 91.66. His score held for the entirety of Run 1 but was edged out by Semenuk's second run.
"I am so happy to have stomped that run." Godziek explains, "I'm super happy about the [backflip], push myself, am happy to survive, and am stoked to come back next year."
The Scariest Canyon Gap Yet
Tyler McCaul wins 3rd place Red Bull Rampage 2024
© Paris Gore / Red Bull Content Pool
Tyler McCaul, a Red Bull Rampage veteran who previously competed at this venue in 2018 and 2019, placing 6th and 5th respectively, took 3rd place. Instead of using his old line, McCaul made the bold choice to reinvent it, and one feature that caught everyone's attention was a spine-chilling step-down canyon gap measuring 74 feet from takeoff to landing. McCaul first found the step-down canyon gap in 2018 and joked about jumping over it with Ethan Nell. Six years later, it became part of his line.
McCaul waited between wind gusts to drop, finding the perfect window to air over such an exposed and consequential canyon. In his run, McCaul integrated a backflip, suicide no-hander, and backflip nac nac, putting him in 3rd with a score of 90.66. After missing last year's competition due to an injury, McCaul returned to put down the best run of his career and earn his first podium finish.
Tyler McCaul wins 3rd place Red Bull Rampage 2024
© Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
"I'm happy with where I ended up; it took 14 years to get a podium, so that's pretty darn cool," reflects McCaul.
Beyond the podium, the progression was evident all across the roster. Great Britain's Brendan Fairclough won the brand new Samsung Galaxy Trailblazer Award for his line full of creative features. Spain's Bienvenido Aguado Alba won the BFGoodrich Tires Toughness Award for riding in the finals despite a heavy crash the day before on his canyon gap. The rider-voted McGazza Spirit award went to Ethan Nell for his Red Bull Rampage return and solid run. Lastly, the Utah Sports Commission Best Trick Award went to Tom Van Steenbergen for throwing a front flip on the biggest drop in his line.
Tom Van Steenbergen at Red Bull Rampage 2024 in Virgin, Utah
© Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
"It feels pretty damn awesome to win [Best Trick], I'm super stoked on the front flip," says Van Steenbergen. "[The front flip] was the plan way in advance, and it took a lot of work to get it."
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Final Results
Rider
Score
Brandon Semenuk
92.73
Szymon Godziek
91.66
Tyler McCaul
90.66
Tom Van Steenbergen
89.33
Kurt Sorge
87.16
Thomas Genon
85.83
Carson Storch
85.00
Adolf Silva
83.50
Ethan Nell
82.33
Kyle Strait
78.66
Brendan Fairclough
76.00
Reed Boggs
74.66
Talus Turk
72.00
Luke Whitlock
70.66
Tom Isted
50.53
Bienvenido Aguado Alba
DNF
Both the men’s and women’s broadcasts are now available to watch via replay on Red Bull TV, and two highlight shows will air Sunday, October 27 on ESPN2 at 5:00pm ET/2:00pm PT.
Men's competition
The world’s toughest big mountain freeride mountain bike competition continues to progress the sport.
Where We Go From Here
As the sun sets on another historic Red Bull Rampage, it's only natural to start dreaming about what's next. The future is bright for these athletes, and the sky's the limit for where they can take the sport next. If there's anything we've learned from this year's event, it's that there's always more to come.
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