Sam did it again! He won the Vienna Air King for the third time in a row.

Due to the hard weather conditions on the 1. and 2. event day, there was a slight change for the schedule. Big ease, when Vienna’s weather conditions on Sunday were acceptable for a great final. Vienna saw plenty of big names, and in the end it was the contest-dominating Sams (Pilgrim and Reynolds) from Great Britain who took the podium places, joined by Andreu Lacondeguy with a convincing performance. The extreme high trick level on the generously constructed jumps was once again prove for the awesome progression freeride mtb saw in the last years.

Sam Pilgrim made absolutely clear, that he is the ultimate factor in the dirt and slopestyle disciplines at the moment. Already in his first run, that was not to be topped by any of the 30 finalists, he showed a backflip table at the step down, followed by a backflip no hand, a 360 tailwhip, completed with a 720, that brought him the highest score of the day.

Sam Reynolds kicked a backflip at the step down, a backflip no hand, a flipwhipand finally a 360 tailwhip at the last obstacle, resulting in second place. Andreu Lacondeguy impressed the judges with a backflip from the step down, an extreme fat flipwhip, followed by a 360 flatspin at the third obstacle as well as a 360 tailwhip at the last jump.

FINAL RESULTS  VIENNA AIR KING 2012:

1.       Sam Pilgrim  (GBR, TSG, NS BIKES)

2.       Sam Reynolds (GBR, POLYGON)

3.       Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP, YT INDUSTRIES)

4.       Szymon Godziek (POL, DARTMOOR BIKES)

5.       Linus Sjöholm (SWE, YT INDUSTRIES)

6.       Jakub Vencl (CZE, ROSE VERSAND)

7.       Amir Kabbani (GER, TSG, MONGOOSE)

8.       Loius Reboul (FRA, YT INDUSTRIES)

9.       Thomas Genon (BEL, TSG, UMF VELO TEAM)

10.     Patrick Leitner (AUT, TSG)

11.     Lance McDermott (GBR, SARACEN BIKES)

12.     Antoine Bizet (FRA, KONA)

13.     Tomas Zejda (CZE, DARTMOOR BIKES)

14.     Bartek Obukowicz (POL, NS BIKES)

15.     Ray Samson (GBR)

16.     Pavel Alekhin (RUS, HELLRIDE)

17.     Simon Kirchmann (GER, BERGAMONT)

18.     Marcin Rot (POL)

19.     Blake Samson (GBR)

20.     Bienvenido Aguado (ESP,TSG, YT INDUSTRIES)

For more information please visit the official homepage of the Vienna Air King: http://www.vienna-air-king.at/en/home/index.html

Vienna Air King on facebook: www.facebook.com/viennaairking

The Vienna Air King is over and the asphalt on the Vienna city square is still glowing from all the hot biking action. If you didn’t make it to Vienna last weekend, the highlight clip lets you relive the atmosphere, excitement and tricks.

Around 70 riders from 15 nations gathered on the city square in Vienna this past weekend to try and take the throne at the 6th edition of the Vienna Air King. Never has Vienna seen more high-profile riders at one competition and the level of tricks showed that during the 2011 season we can expect the bar to be raised. Once again, TSG’s Sam Pilgrim (UK) prevailed against the competition and takes home the 2nd victory in a row and 3rd overall from the Vienna Air King. Even though Yannick Granieri (FRA/2. place) and Greg Watts (USA/3. place) tried everything to take the crown from Pilgrim – in the end nobody was able to push him off the throne.

About 120,000 visitors overall strolled over the city square in Vienna and were not disappointed at the first event of the FMB World Tour. During the finals on Sunday, the riders pulled tricks out of their sleeves that not only the spectators were impressed with. Judges and the riders themselves all agreed that the level of tricks was higher this year than it had ever been. Obviously, the level of tricks at a contest grows in direct relation to the jury’s demands – which is why Sam Pilgrim had to give all he had to make it to the first place during the three runs out of which two counted towards the result. He showed a sick trick at every jump and was able to convince the jury with his consistently excellent performance. From underneath the Red Bull arch he shot into the line with a backflip tabletop and followed it up with a backflip nohand. Next up was a 720 and to finish up a super clean 360 tailwhip.

Results:

1.   Sam Pilgrim (GBR/TSG, NS Bikes)
2.   Yannick Granieri (FRA/Commencal)
3.   Greg Watts(USA/HARO)
4.   Martin Söderström (SWE/Specialized)
5.   Mehdi Gani (FRA/Probikeshop)
6.   Sam Reynolds (GBR/DMR Bikes)
7.   Tomas Genon (BEL/UMF)
8.   Szymon Godziek (POL/Dartmoor Bikes)
9.   Bartek Obukowicz (POL/NS Bikes)
10. Pavel Vishnevi (RUS/Blackmarket Bikes)
11. Antony Rocci (FRA/Rick the World)
12. Tomas Zejda(CZE/Dartmoor Bikes)
13. Jakub Vencl (CZE/Rose Versand)
14. Niki Leitner (AUT/YT Industries)
15. John Alm Högman (SWE/Scott Bikes)

For further info visit http://www.vienna-air-king.at