Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown, hosted the first stop of the 2011 Masters of Dirt tour this past weekend. Despite icy sub-freezing temperatures both nights, MoD's riders, dancers and crew managed to dig deep - delivering a performance that topped anything they had produced to date. Both shows were to sold-out audiences.
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Spanish Mountain Bike madman Bienvenido Aguado attempted the double front flip several times on Friday night, crashing spectacularly in the process. Saturday, after several more bone crunching crashes - Bienve stuck a massive double frontflip off a full size FMX superkicker. Definitely one of the weekend's highlights.
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The FMX, Synchro, Whip and Flip Progression segments saw the MoD FMX riders joined by newbies to the series Mike Metzger and Jose Miralles, who slotted in perfectly - adding their own unique styles to the MoD mix. The FMX ending in a climax featuring a run down of the biggest and baddest Backflip tricks around.
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The Fuel Girls added some new sparks to the show, Jon Guetter & Justin Hoyer unveiled new tricks and flip combos to their Sled & Quad routines, whilst the Barcelona pitbike crew - Richard & Ranjer - attempted a tandem backflip both nights. On Saturday they got the full rotation, but drifted off the side of the landing and crashed pretty hard.
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Almost everyone walked away in one piece (except for Swedish ripper David Karlson who tore a knee ligament in Friday's show & Bienve being a bit scraped and bruised) - the riders & crew are already preparing to add even more to the show at the Vienna tour stops in just over a week's time. Vienna will also feature the double frontflip, as well as an FMX body varial, a 2 sled show, a 2 quad show and a 4 rider side by side FMX synchro segment. It is going to be mad!
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FMX legend Mike Metzger was stoked after the show saying; " MoD is the best show in the world, and unlike anything I've ridden in".
A massive thank you goes out to MoD's event partners in Graz at the Leutgeb Entertainment group for hosting the opening tour stop so successfully.
More information: www.mastersofdirt.com |