Once the downhill qualifying dust had settled on Leogang late Saturday afternoon, spectators congregated around the town’s well-known set of jumps that annually host the 26TRIX contest.

Personally it’s been a while since I’ve seen a MTB dirt contest for real, and I was blown away by it. You can only get so much of an idea how bonkers what these guys do is from watching videos and looking at photos, and it’s not until you witness the size of the jumps and the enormity of the tricks first hand that it all becomes apparent. With a bit of a wait for proceedings due to wind, things got off to a start with warm up runs that already had me pondering how those tricks could be possible, and as for finals… well when you see double flips, front no-hands and cash rolls thrown casually in a run you know things are out of control. Wild stuff, fair play to those who rode.

Here’s the press release from the event with a run down of proceedings and results:

26TRIX Leogang 2015 – Antoine Bizet Wins

Words: Rasoulution
Photos: Szymon Nieborak

Saalfelden Leogang in Salzburger Land, Austria, June 13^th 2015 – All day Antoine Bizet geared up for the run of his season and when it came down to the line, the Frenchman rode for glory in Bikepark Leogang at the FMB World Tour Gold event, 26TRIX during the Out of Bounds Festival. Knocked off the top spot in the last moment, Nicholi Rogatkin is satisfied with his second place and winning the GoPro Best Trick. Combo master, Thomas Genon takes third place on the podium. 

The sun was out all day in Saalfelden Leogang and after the UCI Downhill World Cup qualifying took place, the FMB stars took to the dirt for the finals of 26TRIX. The crowds, 4000 strong, showed amazing amounts of stoke as the wind delayed the contest but when it calmed down, the action was back and the 10^th edition of this historic dirt jump contest was on!

Ever since his double back flip tuck no-hand last year, Antoine Bizet is a crowd favorite here in the Austrian bike resort. Practice looked good and his run was on point, but sitting in 4^th place after both final runs meant that his last hope of success was a third super final attempt. The crowd amped up the atmosphere and his winning run featured a cashroll, flatspin x-up, double backflip, backflip-360, barspin on the hip and front flip no hand on the last booter.

Nicholi has been on the top of his game from the start of the season and his performance at 26TRIX was no different. Consistent, well-executed tricks meant that he was the man to beat in today’s finals. Confident that his run would keep him in first place, he kept the score from his first run. The gamble didn’t pay off this time, but despite settling for second, he his happy with his result. Nicholi’s run featured a cashroll, tailwhip to barspin, double tailwhip, backflip-360, barspin and front flip barspin to finish. In addition to standing on the podium, Nicholi’s front flip barspin also won him the GoPro Best Trick contest.

On the other side of the podium is Thomas Genon. The Belgian rider is no stranger to the podium and although it was not his ultimate run, a backflip- 360, 360 downside whip, massive 360 invert, 360 tailwhip, tailwhip on the hip and stylish truckdriver to table was enough to secure third. Still eager to claim a victory in Leogang, Sam Reynolds finished fourth, just ahead of Tom van Steenbergen. Taking fifth, the Canadian will claim the event wildcard for the next FMB Diamond Event, Swatch Prime Line in Munich on June 27^th.

Apart from the 10^th anniversary, 26TRIX celebrated the participation of BMX legend Ryan Nyquist (USA), who entered his first dirt jump contest on a mountain bike. The 36-years old multi-time X Games medalist flew in from the US after just competing at X Games Austin last week. His Leogang adventure began with pre-qualis, which he won ahead of the Russian Pavel Alekhin. Later that afternoon, Nyquist first run wasn’t enough to make it to the finals and unfortunately he crashed on a flip double barspin in his second run. The spectators were pleased to see Ryan ride in Leogang and the mountain bikers hope to welcome him again at more contests.

For Saalfelden Leogang, Bikepark Leogang, fans and athletes, the tenth edition of 26TRIX is a special one and event director Kornel Grundner commented: “The weather was quite difficult and we have had a lot of wind but we have a lot of respect for the riders that pulled through and we even completed the super finals. Nicholi speculated, but Antoine took the victory in his super final run. The suspense was there until the very end and we are extremely thrilled with the tenth edition of 26TRIX.”

Saalfelden Leogang and Bikepark Leogang would like to thank all of its partners for their support of this great dirt jump contest and look forward to future editions.