Nicholi Rogatkin Rules VIENNA AIR KING 2015

Vienna (AUT), April 12th 2015 – Nicholi Rogatkin becomes the first ever rider to win VIENNA AIR KING and the Panasonic Best Trick Competition. Thomas Genon joins him on the podium for the second time this season and pre-qualifier, Max Fredriksson proves his worth on the dirt to land in 3rd. Nicholi’s glory weekend began with an awesome win at the best trick jam session thanks to a massive backflip-360.

That’s a wrap! The 10th edition of the VIENNA AIR KING is done and dusted. A weekend in the sun at Vienna’s Rathausplatz was topped off by the awesome dirt jump contest. Crazy airtime, up to 9 meters high, gave the world’s best athletes enough time to throw down their gnarliest tricks. The story began on Friday with the pre-qualifying. From 40 riders, 14 proceeded into the qualifying to join the remaining 16 set athletes. One of these 14 was 19 year-old Max Fredriksson from Sweden…

The results were mixed, with big names further down the ranks and younger tricksters rising to the top. Heading to the finals, the podium was anyone’s game. For crowd favorites like Szymon Godziek and Antoine Bizet it was a case of all or nothing. In the end, the gamble didn’t pay off but they sure had fun trying. Other top riders like four-time champion Sam Pilgrim, Anton Thelander, Peter Henke and Tomas Lemoine struggled to stick their desired runs together from start to finish.

On Saturday, the earth trembled as jaws hit the ground during the Panasonic Best Trick Competition. A crowd, tens of thousands strong, gathered on Vienna’s Rathausplatz to witness the biggest and craziest tricks. Nicholi ruled the hour-long jam session with his huge backflip-360. Despite his victory in 2013, the “Cherrybomb” Russian, Pavel Alekhin could only seal 2nd place with his flipwhip barspin. He did get the crowd pumped with his incredible showmanship. The Frenchman, Antoine Bizet was nailing double backflips one after the other, looking to add that tuck nohander – but something just didn’t feel right. His solid performance awarded him third spot on the Panasonic Best Trick podium. Also worth mentioning was Szymon Godziek’s backflip double-barspin suicide, Tomas Zejda’s 360 tailwhip from the step down which the fans last saw in 2008 by American Paul Bas. A surprising addition to the jam session was Thomas Genon’s bikeflip.

Max Fredriksson is the first pre-qualifier to land on the podium (3rd, 85.66pts) at Vienna Air King. His run in the Sunday’s finals was a technical feast including a barspin-to-barspin-back from the step down, backflip barspin on the 9-meter hit, double whip and a triple truckdriver to finish. How was the Belgian Thomas Genon going to top that? Well, it began with a truckdriver from the step down, then a backflip barspin to tuck no hand and a smooth oppo 360 one-foot tabletop and ended with a wicked corked 720. Thomas Genon finished in 2nd with 88.33pts. Now all eyes were on the American athlete, who is taking the FMB World Tour by storm. Nicholi Rogatkin’s winning run scored 91.33pts and featured a tailwhip, backflip-360 at the big set, double tailwhip and his signature cashroll. An unbeatable trick throwdown, which awarded him the win.

Results

The Argus Bike Festival gave the passing visitors another fantastic weekend packed with world-class performances and exhibited the newest bikes and cycling products as the mountain bike season kicks-off. Vienna Air King event hosts would like to thank all the riders, spectators and media partners for a great weekend.
For more information go to www.vienna-air-king.at and www.facebook.com/viennaairking

The Ripple Effect: Rogatkin Set To Make Waves In 2015

Munich, March 24th 2015 – In 2014 the new kid on the block, Nicholi Rogatkin from Boston (USA), created ripples in the FMB World Tour scene – this year, he is pre-qualified for the FMB Diamond Series and ready to make waves. Riding with the support of new partners, in 2015 we could be witness to another rider joining the ranks of the top dawgs on the scene.
 
Last year took mountain bike slopestyle to a whole new level. Athletes were dropping new tricks left, right and centre. Nicholi Rogatkin was one of these athletes and 2014 was only his debut season on the FMB World Tour. This dark horse rode out of the shadows at 26TRIX (Leogang, AUT) when, after an incredible trick battle with other world-class FMB athletes, he finished the weekend with a win. Triple tailwhips, long dart fronties, and cashrolls are just some of the bangers on his repertoire.
 
Nicholi quickly earned a spot in the FMB Diamond events and after finishing 6th overall in 2014, he is now pre-qualified for the 2015 FMB Diamond Series. Riding for Specialized, KALI, Ninja gloves and armed with the support of new partners, including head partner XDubai, DT Swiss, VP Components, Spank, Continental and Alpinestars, Nicholi is ready to start a promising and glorious year. Nicholi’s manager, Tarek Rasouli commented: "I am excited to see Nicholi going into his 2nd FMB season. Nicholi has worked hard during the off-season to be fully prepared for the competition this year. The additional support from his partners is another great confidence boost as well."
 
Nicholi's bike for 2015 screams "technical", "finesse" and "state of the art" - with top notch specifications, he is equipped for action:

Just recently, Nicholi joined the line-up of elite showman at Masters of Dirt in Vienna. This none competitive event with big jumps and high level of riding is a good warm-up for the season ahead. The FMB Diamond Series will be at the top of his list because this is where the FMB World Championship is won, but we can also expect to see him at Gold events such as 26TRIX (AUT), Colorado Freeride Festival (USA) and FISE. First FMB highlight event will be the Diamond event, Crankworx Rotorua (March 29th, NZL), followed by the Silver event Vienna Air King (April 12th, AUT).

 

Nicholi himself could not be more eager to build on the success of 2014: "Joining the MTB world has been unreal. All of my experiences so far have been mind blowing and unforgettable. I couldn't be more stoked on all the companies I'm working with in 2015. I'm fortunate to pick the very best companies to dial in every part of my bike. And in addition I'm happy to represent a new company, XDubai who is here to put Dubai on the map as a destination for generations to come."
 
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