Kona Clump Team rider Andreu Lacondeguy was on a mission to win at the Kokanee Crankworx Slopestyle last Saturday in Whistler, British Columbia. The fearless Spanish rider did something no other rider has ever done during Slopestyle competition: successfully landing a double-back flip.
In the days leading up to the event, Lacondeguy spent hours practicing with friends and Kona team-mates John Cowan (who designed the course), Grant "Chopper" Fielder and younger brother Lluis. With a long list of who's who in the world of mountain biking competing in the event, Lacondeguy knew he had to bring his A-game to take home the top spot.
With the top eight riders qualifying for the finals out of 34 participants, his first run (in the two-run format) in the main event scored the lowest out of the finalists after failing to land a double-back flip. He registered a score of 30.8 points; while Brandon Semenuk of Whistler had the best first run score of 86.8.The course featured huge tables, dirt jumps, wooden spins, the Giro box and the always insane Kokanee drop as the final hit.
Since he produced the lowest score during the first run, he went first for the second and final runs. With nothing to hold back, he started out with a double-back flip off the first table, followed by a foot plant off the Monster Snake, a back flip X-up, flat spin 360, topside nac-nac, can-can step-down, Superman, and finished off with a back flip onto the final Kokanee feature and Superman off into Whistler village.
His run scored 94.3 points and set the bar for the rest of the riders final runs. Lance McDermott of the United Kingdom took second place with 91.5 points.
"I just kept trying the double-back flip," said Lacondeguy of his feat. "It was that trick that did the job, it was gnarly you know." He took home CAN$15,000 for his win.
Greg Minnaar won the high speed Giant Slalom ahead of Brian Lopes, Gee Atherton and Guido Tschugg.
