Andreu Lacondeguy wins first Marzocchi Airdrome

The Marzocchi Airdrome went off with a bang! Fireworks launched the inaugural indoor dirt jump event in Munich’s Olympic Hall on December 15, 2006. The riders kept the spectators’ eyes focused toward the ceiling as they assaulted the skies with a flurry of flips and spinning tricks. In the end the three riders Andreu Lacondeguy, Darren Berrecloth and Lance McDermott could reach the podium.The dirt jumps built for the SuperCross-Over Munich event were some of the largest jumps ever used for a mountain bike dirt jump contest: the first jump was 35 ft. long and the second one was 20 ft. Most riders were a bit apprehensive upon arrival, but after a few runs during the practice session, everyone was comfortable and began to trick the two massive dirt jumps. The event organizers added plywood to the top of the dirt roll-in to give the riders a little extra speed into the first jump as well.

After a lengthy session on the dirt jumps, qualifying began in front of the 7,000 spectators. Andreu Lacondeguy came out strong with a run consisting of a backflip and a 360 tailwhip, enough to secure the top spot for qualifying. Eight riders out of the original fifteen riders qualified for the finals.


John Jesme, the eighth rider to qualify for the finals, announced on the start gate that he was going to attempt a double-backflip on the first jump. The riders cautioned him to the fact that the jump was not properly setup for a double backflip, but Jesme was convinced that he would go for it. The excitement from the screaming spectators was—no doubt—a motivating factor to bring out all of the riders’ top tricks.

Unfortunately, Jesme’s double-backflip dream came up a little short. After completing his first rotation, he was not able to get the bike around a second time and crashed hard on the first jump. His bike was not able to take the abuse of such a hard landing, but thankfully Jesme was able to walk away from the crash.


After such an amazing trick attempt, the rest of the riders felt the pressure to bring out their best tricks as well. Each rider had three runs to impress the judges (with their top run used for the final standing) and they did exactly that. Lance McDermott’s second run was a backflip, followed by a front flip. His third run was a tuck no-hander, followed by a backflip-superman. Lance’s efforts were good enough for third place in the final, and he probably would’ve been higher on the podium if he had landed the backflip-superman a little cleaner.

Darren Berrecloth came in second place with a solid final run, dropping a trick that we haven’t seen previously from “The Claw”. Berrecloth 360’d the first jump, then followed it up with a 360-tailwhip to pedals. A flawless run with a perfect 3-whip was enough to get Bearclaw into the second spot.



Andreu Lacondeguy, the first qualifier, brought down the house with two incredible runs. His first run was a backflip and then a 360-tailwhip, but his second run sealed the deal for the Spanish Flea. He threw a backflip on the first and on the second jump he landed a double tailwhip! Andreu rode solid during the entire contest with his trademark huge riding style. "This is my first big win and it’s amazing! Some years ago I was watching a supercross race and I was dreaming to be one day at a similar competition. It was great to win here especially since you were competing at the same venue during the same weekend with guys like Ronnie Renner!“ He went home with 5,000 Euros.

The final results for the event were:


1-Andreu Lacondeguy (ESP)
2-Darren Berrecloth (CAN)
3-Lance McDermott (UK)
4-Cameron McCaul (USA)
5-Greg Watts (USA)
6-Amir Kabbani (GER)
7-Jamie Goldman (USA)
8-John Jesme (USA)

Unfortunately the German rider Timo Pritzel, one of the local heroes in the event, was not able to compete after a crash during practice. Timo bailed out of a trick and landed directly on his ankle, which was thankfully not broken, but swollen enough to keep him out of the event.

The inaugural Marzocchi Airdrome event ended with the top three riders being presented with huge checks and Ogio travel bags by some German go-go girls. The riders then raced off the podium to prepare for a full night of partying, Munich-style!!!

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