August 18, 2008

Lance McDermott places 2nd at Crankwork

SCOTT Progressive rider Lance McDermott earned a silver medal at the 2008 Crankworx Slopestyle contest with an impressive display of flip mastery. McDermott took second place by only a half point deficit to winner Andreu Locondeguy, who crashed in his first three attempts at pulling off a double back flip off the first booter, but pulled it together in his final run to impress the judges.
Photo: Ryan Cleek
McDermott had a very solid qualifying round, stomping a huge front flip off the big dirt jump mid-course, something he continued to land throughout the contest. McDermott also nailed a flared back flip off the Kokanee drop in qualifying, but stepped up to a tremendous crowd pleasing back flip on-front flip off the final stunt. The crowd went wild and could barely get their heads around what just happened. No one has ever pulled a front flip off the final step down, and McDermott pulled three in his final run alone. “I only had a split second after flipping onto the box to brake check and then flip the other way,” said McDermott. “I have never tried to front flip off a step down, it felt awesome to land that in front of the huge crowd at Crankworx. I am going to build a step down at home to practice on now, so I can have more tricks locked up when I come back.” McDermott rides a limited edition Slopestyle bike from SCOTT Bicycles. To see the video, please click here.
Photo: Ryan Cleek