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MTB
This is what makes Red Bull Roof Ride a unique MTB freestyle event
The second edition of the Red Bull Roof Ride took place in Katowice, Poland. Dive in here for all the details of what was a festival of a mountain bike competition.
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The mountain bike freestyle event Red Bull Roof Ride returned to the bike calendar after a two-year break on June 30 to July 1. As in the first-ever event in 2021, Red Bull Roof Ride took place in Katowice, Poland, and saw the world's top slopestyle riders compete on a specially built course in the city.
Scroll on to watch the replay and find out the results, as well as all the details of the event.
01
A Roof Ride double for Dawid Godziek
Dawid Godziek won Red Bull Roof Ride for the second time, defending his title in Katowice. The Pole won with a judged score of 94.25 points from British athlete Jake Atkinson, who finished with a final score of 91.87.
The final step on the podium was claimed by 18-year-old Chance Moore of Canada with a score of 89.50, while Szymon Godziek narrowly missed out on joining his brother on the podium as he finished in fourth place.
4 min
Dawid Godziek's winning run
Watch as Dawid Godziek takes the win on home soil at the second ever Red Bull Roof Ride in Katowice, Poland.
"It feels super good to be on top of the podium for the second time at Red Bull Roof Ride. For our local crowd and for this amazing event we created with Red Bull, I’m so happy,” said Godziek, whose winning run included landing a first-ever Cash Roll from a flat drop.
“I decided to pull a Cash Roll from the flat drop for the first time in competition. I’ve been practising it for a long time for a special occasion like this.”
Dawid celebrates first place alongside Atkinson and Moore
© Dominik Czerny/Red Bull Content Pool
In total 12 athletes took part on finals day, having qualified from a field of 30 the previous day.
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Replay the action on Red Bull TV
Watch the whole event as video on demand below:
Finals
Watch Dawid and Szymon Godziek and other freestyle MTB stars go crazy on a track built on building roofs!
03
Learn more about the event
If there’s one thing you can count on from a Red Bull event, you’re unlikely to have seen it anywhere else. And Red Bull Roof Ride fills that brief by bringing mountain bike freestyle and slopestyle tricks directly into the city and into one of Poland’s most populous cities, Katowice. There’s an iconic venue to boot in Katowice as well, with the course and site for Red Bull Roof ride being located in the city's Spodek Arena and International Congress Center complex.
Red Bull Roof Ride shows that nothing is impossible when it comes to building a slopestyle course in a city. In 2021, 10 heavy equipment trucks, over 3,000 square metres of plywood and 11 days of work from a 70-person team were needed to create the course.
Competition in the heart of the city
© Roger Wanke/Red Bull Content Pool
04
Part of the course runs across the roofs of a building
Yes, that's right. As the name of the event suggests, the course, in part, sees the athletes take to the roof of the International Congress Center to navigate step downs and step ups on the roof before facing a 16-metre drop down to the course as it continues at street level. That street level section, of course, will see the athletes hit three kicker jumps before the riders stop their runs.
Overview of the 2023 Red Bull Roof Ride course
© Tomasz Ustupski/Red Bull Content Pool
As in most mountain bike freestyle competitions, athletes will take more than one run on the course. In Red Bull Roof Ride, there will be three runs for the pro athletes.
Following consultations with athletes and experts, some parts of the track have been modified from when Roof Ride ran in 2021. This has been done to improve the riders’ safety and elevate the event to an even higher level.
A downhill start from the International Congress Center
© Roger Wanke/Red Bull Content Pool
Fans get to see the action close up by the Spodek Arena
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
Fan engagement is a key part of Red Bull Roof Ride
© Jacek Jabłoński/Red Bull Content Pool
Cameras will be rolling as Red Bull TV will show live coverage of the event on both days of the competition. Both qualifiers and finals will be streamed live, though qualifying commentary will only be in Polish.
05
Szymon and Dawid Godziek are your hosts
The Polish brothers have been part of the mountain bike freestyle scene for over a decade and have had varying degrees of success in that time. Along the way, Szymon and Dawid established many friendships with fellow competitors, event organisers and sponsors and became good bike athlete ambassadors for Poland. It was only natural that they'd want to showcase their own country to the world, and Red Bull Roof Ride is the culmination of some dreams and aspirations to bring mountain biking to the people of Poland.
Szymon and Dawid Godziek at Red Bull Roof Ride
© Bartek Woliński/Red Bull Content Pool
The two were involved in the first edition of Red Bull Roof Ride in 2021, with both taking on roles as athlete liaisons and official event cheerleaders as the event approached in August of that year. Despite obvious distractions, the two made sure their minds were set on competition, with Dawid winning and Szymon finishing third. Max Fredriksson was the athlete in between the Godziek sandwich.
"I’m glad it was such a success, and all riders could complete their runs. I hope that we managed to make fans fall in love with our sport," said Szymon when speaking immediately after the 2021 event.
2 min
Dawid Godziek's winning run
Watch Dawid Godziek's winning run at the inaugural Red Bull Roof Ride slopestyle event in Katowice, Poland.
We're sure that the brothers will take excellent care of the riders from abroad again in 2023 and will certainly find time for the fans who will gather to watch Red Bull Roof Ride this year.
06
A bumper list of athletes competing
Being an FMB Gold event, Red Bull Roof Ride attracts some of the top mountain bike freestyle athletes. The start list for qualifiers numbers up to 30 athletes, which is a very large field. Only 12 athletes will make it through to finals on Saturday, July 1.
Apart from the Godzieks, the startling list includes athletes who are familiar with the Crankworx Slopestyle circuit, like Tom Isted and Sam Pilgrim of Great Britain, Torquato Testa of Italy and Spaniards Miguel Guerrero and Alejandro Bonafe. Dawid Godziek is the top-ranked FMB athlete going into the event and is the firm favourite to repeat his win of 2021.
It's also an opportunity to see the up-and-coming talent of mountain bike freestyle with athletes to watch out for, including Nicolas Kroffig of France, Felix Tornqvist of Sweden and Tobey Miley of Germany. For the locals, four of the five wildcard spots have been awarded to Polish riders in Paweł Stachak, Przemek Abramowicz, Daniel Zawistowski and Bartek Pietras.
Szymon Godziek happy after nailing a run
© Roger Wanke/Red Bull Content Pool
I’m glad it was such a success and all riders could complete their runs. I hope that we managed to make fans fall in love with our sport
07
There's a competition for amateurs
Red Bull Poland have organised a competition for local amateur riders, which takes place on a course to the side of the main pro course that will provide further entertainment for fans attending Red Bull Roof Ride. The course features just two jump kickers, but they are of a big enough size for the competitors to show off their creative skills on their bikes.
The amateur riders selected to take part in this competition were chosen after submitting video clips to a website. Qualifications will whittle down an entry list of 36 to 12 for finals on July 1. Prizes will be offered for the top three riders. Who knows, the next Szymon or Dawid Godziek could just be in the group of amateurs taking part.
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