Virgin, Utah (July 12, 2018) – The date has been set for the 2018 edition of the biggest show in freeride mountain biking: Red Bull Rampage returns to the Utah desert on October 26th. This fall, 21 of the world’s greatest freeriders will transform the unforgiving terrain of southern Utah into descending lines of form and function, with the goal of displaying the kind of riding that will place them at the top of the podium at one of the most arduous tests of fortitude on two wheels.
Red Bull Rampage veterans Kurt Sorge and Cam Zink top the list of returning riders this year after taking home gold and silver, respectively, in 2017. Utah’s Ethan Nell, the hometown hero who took home third in 2017 plans to continue to show his growing skills on the the mountains outside of Virgin, UT. The question everyone wants answered is whether the tenure of athletes like Sorge, Zink and Semenuk can keep pace the new era of rippers, especially those with year-round exposure to the riding conditions of the arid Southwest and the totally new location for 2018.
The elite group of 21 riders will create their own handmade lines down the mountain without the use of power tools. As a result, no two rider’s path down the near-vertical sandstone ridges will be the same. In advance of the competition, the riders, along with their two-person build crews, will spend four days of building and then four additional days to practice in order to build their ultimate line in what is touted as one of the most intense contests in the world.
PRE-QUALIFIED ATHLETES FOR RED BULL RAMPAGE 2018
- Kurt Sorge (CAN)
- Cameron Zink (USA)
- Ethan Nell (USA – Utah)
- Brandon Semenuk (CAN)
- Brett Rheeder (CAN)
- Thomas Genon (BEL)
- Carson Storch (USA)
- Kyle Strait (USA)
- Tyler McCaul (USA
- Tom van Steenbergen (CAN)
Invited Wild Card and Alternate athletes to be announced.
