SURPRISE PODIUM AT SWATCH PRIME LINE MUNICH
It was a real thriller of a final at the Swatch Prime Line Munich. Dark thunder clouds loomed over Munich’s Olympic Park as finals were about to begin. Once the crowd had gathered to witness the action, the weather gods were kind and cleared the sky. Right on point, the 16 qualified riders dropped in, in heats of 4, pulling everything out the bag to make into the finals. In the end, Frenchman Louis Reboul grabbed the top spot on the podium, leaving Swatch Proteam rider Sam Pilgrim (GBR) and Tomas Lemoine (FRA) with second and third.
You can watch the video highlights below…
Straight from the start, Louis Reboul looked comfortable and confident on the course at the first Swatch Prime Line Munich. The French rider nailed qualifying on Friday as the first athlete to ride the full loop. A feature he later repeated in his winning run to earn those valuable extra points. Pinning the full circle alone didn’t bag him the victory, his run was packed with the finest bangers including, a backflip tabletop, 360-invert, the full loop, 360-flatspin, flip whip and a cannonball to tuck no-hand. With such big guns on the starting list, no one really had Louis Reboul on the radar for the win but he came, he rode and conquered in style!
Click on the gallery below to see a whole pile of incredible photos from the event…
Another highlight was the return of the reigning FMB World Tour Champion, Sam Pilgrim (GBR). The Brit has not been as present on podium this season as he was last year, in fact Swatch Prime Line is second major FMB World Tour podium of the season and everyone is stoked to see him back on form. Sam let his street skills shine in Munich, using the loop to pull a stunning flair. A 720 on the final jump was the sweetest moment of his second place run. “Swatch Prime Line Munich was absolutely perfect: super weather, super atmosphere, super public”, said the happy Sam Pilgrim. “It was so much fun and it is simply cool to be on the podium again.”
The third surprise of the day was delivered by Tomas Lemoine. N0 one expected to see the French rider on the podium. Obviously the flowy, sloped dirt jump course fit the young athlete. He fought his way through the heat mode, leaving big names and favourites behind him to grab bronze. Prize money for best trick was bagged by a rider, who has dominated the podium this year: Thomas Genon. He impressed judges and spectators with his dialled 360 barspin to tailwhip.
Swatch Prime Line Munich has made its way into the history books with a contest premiere of a full loop and amazed the cheering crowd with a unique heat modus, where groups of four riders competed against each other to enter the finals.
Photos: Swatch / Christoph Laue / Markus Greber
