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Riders react to the Rampage judging

Post-Rampage drama played out on social media

Photos: Bartek Wolinski, Christian Pondella

It’s the nature of judged sports that someone is going to end up unhappy with their score.

Rampage is no exception and “x got robbed” is so cliched it feels dirty to write anymore. Rampage really has put a lot of work into getting it’s judging panel spot-on in recent times and we had Spangler, Gulevich, Bender, Jameson, Vink and Kindrade taking up the clipboards this year. Truth be told, panels don’t get much more legit than that.

Still, with a mountain this size to cover and on-the-spot decisions to be made, you’re not going to please everyone. Some of the riders took to social media to air their grievances about their scored and we’ve gathered them up for you here.

Antoine Bizet

Just got a picture of the Rampage judges that can explain a few things about what happened on friday… What do you think?! #likeandshare ⚠️????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????‍♂️ #illuminati #sylvaindurif #vibes #joke #dontworrybehappy #judgmentsport #respecttherules #respecttothejudges their job is probably as hard as what we riders do. … It’s better to make fun of what happened. But #frustration is really here tho #bizetgotrobbed

A post shared by Antoine Bizet (@antoinebizet) on

You choose: Caption 1: When you dont care about anything but having fun by throwing some good old one footers! Caption 2: Searching for the best way to increase my score after the sickest run of my life on run 1… Thanks @parisgore for capturing that epic moove during my @redbull #rampage #2017 2nd #run! Big thanks to everyone that voted for me that day, you saved my year & got me the most special & unexpected prize, #peopleschoiceaward. I wish I had a #parachute in my bag haha!! You guys are #crazy #???? I was just bringing my stuff to the bottom in my @ionactionsports #backpack ! #enduroisnotdead #???? Thanks for the support: @rose_bikes @ionactionsports @asporteyewear @htcomponents @spankbikes @trpcycling @michelinbicycle @fabriccycling @allroadmobileaccessories @officialleatt

A post shared by Antoine Bizet (@antoinebizet) on

The video I did of my RedBull Rampage 2017 first run is in my bio! Thanks so much to everyone who supported me all these years, and to those who got me people's choice award yesterday! You guys should all get paid, you are the best juges! Enjoy what you do is all that really matters: What a great riding day it was! ???????????? @rose_bikes_france @rose_bikes @ionactionsports @bikeandtest @asporteyewear @htcomponents @officialleatt @trpcycling @spankbikes @fabriccycling @allroadmobileaccessories @michelinbicycle @redbullfrance

A post shared by Antoine Bizet (@antoinebizet) on

Bizet with his People's Choice award and Pef taking home the Spirit of Kelly McGarry award

Kyle Strait

My (8th place ????) run from last weekend. @camzink and I built this run with winning in mind. One of my favorite lines of Rampage history. Look good, feel good. @redbullbike #motivationmonday #cantstop

A post shared by kylestrait (@kylestrait) on

Thank you so much for all the support out there. I felt so good on my run, and riding that chute was hands down one of, If not the gnarliest thing I have done. I chose not to do my second run after watching how they were judging. I knew at that point the risk of doing a second run wasn’t worth the reward. I put it out there my first run. Thank you to @commencalbikes @661protection @stansnotubes and @onyxracing for making the sickest custom stuff! #StraitRampageXII #cantstop ????: @redbullbike @parisgore @wolisphoto

A post shared by kylestrait (@kylestrait) on

Tom Van Steenbergen

Started off strong, dabbed my foot and got 10th place. I'd much rather have tumbled down the cliff if I knew putting my foot down was going to get me 10th ???? Stoked I did my runs and no one got hurt. Till' next year✌???? @parisgore ????

A post shared by Tom van Steenbergen (@tvansteenbergen) on

Cam Zink

Flat drop flips on a DH bike feel gangster as f^^^ . 2nd place hurts worse than crashing, but that's just the nature of judged sports… Congratulations to @kurtsorge for taking his 3rd win! @scottmarkewitz photo #rampage2017 #monsterenergy #sensusgrips #mountainbike

A post shared by Cam Zink (@camzink) on

Tyler McCaul

9th place at #redbullrampage this year. Rode the best I've ever ridden at a Rampage but I guess my line just wasn't what the judges were lookin for that day. 3 more points would've put me in the top 3 after run 1 so I tried to find some more points in run 2 by doing more tricks, getting better extension on everything and riding faster, but only got rewarded with 0.67 more points for it ????. Although I may not understand judged events sometimes, I know that I worked extremely hard the last few months to ride the way I did, and I did everything I came here to do. In the end, riding to my fullest potential is what matters the most to me. I'm not done yet, and I'll be back next year for more. Thanks to everyone for the support out here! ???????? #keepbigmountainbig

A post shared by Tyler McCaul ???? ✈️ ⚓️ (@tylermccaul) on

… And what do the judges say?

Most of the judges have been hunkered down on the social media front but Spangler did have a little nibble on a comment on this Instagram post: “yeah! How many event you judge?? Were you there, do you understand that it’s a big Mtn event?? Do even riding big Mtn or just like to make comments! Whatever! Best judges in Rampage history!”

The lesson – don’t mangle with the Spangle.

Great day judging with this crew! #rampage2017

A post shared by Randy Spangler (@randyspanglermtb) on

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