Athletes head to Swatch Prime Line
Sam Pilgrim - Photo:Bartek WolinskiYour free ride MTB heroes are heading towards the start gates.
Your free ride MTB heroes are heading towards the start gates. 24 top riders from 12 different countries are travelling to Munich (Germany) to take part in the FMB World Tour Gold event: Swatch Prime Line Munich. We’ll see who can do the biggest and newest tricks, and maybe who is brave enough to ride the first ever full loop in a FMB World Tour contest? All will be revealed this Sunday, July 20th at the Olympia Park in Munich.
A spectacular step down, dirt jump, a brand new full loop, a flowy berm to step down and two big dirt jumps make up the Swatch Prime Line Munich course. Riders will have to bring their best tricks to Munich to land on the podium at this contest. The full loop in particular is going to be a real challenge. None of the invited athletes have been selected by accident. For example, there is the reigning FMB World Tour Champion and Swatch Pro Team athlete Sam Pilgrim from England on the list. Dominating the scene this year is Thomas Genon from Belgium – he will also make a star appearance in Munich. Yannick Granieri and Antoine Bizet will lead the French delegation of seven onto the dirt. Peter Henke and his rising colleagues Lukas Knopf and Max Mey will be representing Germany in front of the home crowd. Here is the full line-up:
Eric Walenta (AUT), Patrick Leitner (AUT), Thomas Genon (BEL), Brayden Barret-Hay (CAN), Tom van Steenbergen (CAN), Jakub Vencl (CZE), Tomas Zejda (CZE), Xavier Pasamonte (ESP), Antoine Bizet (FRA), Frank Paulin (FRA), Louis Reboul (FRA), Mehdi Gani (FRA), Simon Pages (FRA), Tomas Lemoine (FRA), Yannick Granieri (FRA), Daryl Brown (GBR), Sam Pilgrim (GBR), Lukas Knopf (GER), Max Mey (GER), Peter Henke (GER), Oszkar Nagy (HUN), Torquato Testa (ITA), Elof Lindh (SWE), Carson Storch (USA)
Qualifying will determine who has the best skills to ride for victory at Swatch Prime Line Munich. 24 athletes will start, but only 16 will make the cut for the semi-finals. An innovative contest format will add to the excitement: at Swatch Prime Line Munich, the athletes will compete in heats of four against each other. Four heats in total, two runs in each heat. The best run counts and only the top rider of each heat will proceed to the finals. In the last round, the remaining four athletes will battle it out with two more runs each. The judges will leave only one rider at the top of the pile to take the win. Throughout the semi-finals and finals, the rider who throws down the best move will win the Best Trick Contest.
The athlete that takes the glory at Swatch Prime Line Munich will also win the final wildcard for Red Bull District Ride later this year. Every athlete wants a spot at the FMB Diamond Series contest and they will show everything they have at Swatch Prime Line Munich to be there. The best placed athlete, who is not yet qualified through the FMB World Ranking, will secure himself a spot in Nuremberg on September 6th.
After so much excitement, of course there will be an awesome after-party to celebrate the achievements.