Brett Rheeder from Canada has been crowned champion of the gnarliest, adrenaline-filled, mountain bike freeride contest in the world, Red Bull Rampage 2022, which took place in the red desert of Utah this weekend..
Sixteen hand chosen pro mountain bikers competed in the event. They spent the past week building and sculpting their lines in the unforgiving mountainous terrain of Virgin, Utah, before sending them this Friday.
Red Bull Rampage is known for pushing progression in the sport and 2022 did not disappoint. Across the event we saw a number of world-first tricks alongside some incredible combos in the mountain bike slopestyle.
Overall, the top three competitors were:
- Brett Rheeder (Canada) – 90.66
- Szymon Godziek (Poland) – 86.33
- Brandon Semenuk (Canada) – 84.00
After nailing his massive entry drop, Rheeder aced a flip can on his burly 48-foot drop to tail whip his step up only seconds later. The two-time Rampage champion kept the tricks coming, spun in both directions, and linked together combinations like he was in a video game. His run was the perfect recipe of complex tricks and steep technical riding, rightfully earning him a 90.66 score to secure his second win.
“I was pretty unsure what was going to happen this year. I had a lot of changes I went through as a person, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get back to this level of riding. So, I didn’t come out to win, to be honest. I just want to make sure whatever I do is for me. Only for me. Not for any sponsors, not for my competitors, not for any ego. I want to make sure it’s for guiding the sport in the right direction and having a good time while doing it,” Rheeder explains in disbelief, still soaking in the achievement. “It’s the most positive I’ve seen [freeride].”
Brett Rheeder opened the door for other complex runs, with Szymon Godziek trailing closely behind him. Godziek took 2nd place, one of the few riders opting to ride Kelly McGarry’s infamous canyon gap. The Polish freerider indeed made the late McGarry proud by linking together a daring run with no shortage of awe-inspiring moves, all of which landed him his first-ever Rampage podium.
“I wasn’t sure if I should do the 360 in the first run or the second run. It was a last-call decision, and it was super scary. It was by far the scariest thing of my life. It worked out but it was super heavy. However, the backflip on the canyon gap was always the plan from the very first day. Once I landed the 360, I remember thinking, “this flip is going to be easy,” laughs Godziek.
Brandon Semenuk, the four-time champion, had the easiest line to spot. Even from the finish corral, you could see his near-vertical run out plunging straight down from the start gate. Two other riders thought about the line, ultimately deciding against it. However, Semenuk always finds diamonds in the rough, deciding that the line was rideable and that he could start the run with a caveman air. On top of taking third, Semenuk walked away with the Best Trick
“The line shouted out at me. I wasn’t the only athlete who looked at it, but I decided to keep going because I thought it could work. It was such a cool feature and hard to pass up on because it was a unique opportunity with how they built the start platform, and you might not have that opportunity again. So despite being gnarly, it was worth the risk in my mind,” Semenuk explained after winning the Best Trick award.
Beyond the top three riders, plenty of moments wowed the crowd. Jaxson Riddle once again claimed the Michelin Style Award for his run chock full of moto-inspired tricks. Freeride legend Cam Zink also reclaimed the BFGoodrich Toughness Award for his perseverance and grit. For the McGazza Spirit Award, Tom Van Steenbergen earned the honor for his incredible return to Red Bull Rampage after a life-changing crash, and Brandon Semenuk brought home the trophy for the Utah Commission Best Trick Award with his caveman out of the start gate. Lastly, the Kia Digger Award was presented to Brett Rheeder’s team of Phil McLean and Austin Davignon. With their hard work, Rheeder’s run couldn’t have been possible, and they made magic happen on their line.
If you would like to catch up on all things Red Bull Rampage 2022, you still can still watch it globally on-demand on both ESPN+ and on free sports tv app, Red Bull TV following the competition. Then on October 30th, viewers can also tune-in to a condensed 2.5-hour replay that will air on ESPN.
