When Graham Agassiz and Andreu Lacondeguy began building a lip-heavy line at Red Bull Rampage with heavy drops on each end, the rest of the field wondered how they would pull it off. Yesterday, they answered part of the question by sending a gigantic step-down, and they did it by pushing each other out of their comfort zones — watch it happen in the video above.
“Aggy is crazy!” says Lacondeguy about the Kamloops freerider after he sailed his bike 76 feet off the drop. High praise from a man who is world-renowned for going absolutely massive.
Sporadic wind and pre-game nerves played a big part in holding back the two marquee riders from hitting the drop, which leads into another step-down and then to the Polaris RZR Moto Booter. While Lacondeguy is pre-qualified for finals on Sunday, Agassiz — who qualified in first place in 2013 but finished outside of the top ten in the final — is required to ride in 2014 qualifiers today.
With uncharacteristic reserve, Lacondeguy took at least a dozen dry runs at the drop before committing, landing more or less where Agassiz did. For today’s qualifier, he’ll cheer Aggy on from the sidelines.
Cheer on from your own digital sidelines during the webcast of finals on Sunday, September 28, starting at 1:00 p.m. MT on the official Red Bull Rampage site.
Stunned. Just absolutely effin' STUNNED. ...so effin' emotional right now even...HOE LEE SHIT. Excited beyond ...just holy shit. Excited...scared....suck me sideways holy shit....
Do any of you kids remember 1999? I went through 3 rear triangles a 3 pairs of Race Face cranks on my brand new Rocky Mountain Pipeline dropping 20 feet cliffs to soft sand. and we thought we were hot shit! today i think twice before hitting a 10 foot drop.
I'm going crazy for Sunday. I am excited and terrified that come competition time these athletes are going to be pushed to not just hit these titanic drops, but actually trick them. What the hell is Zink going to do?!
Also, I'll say it again, even though it's getting redundant how much everyone is asking for it, I really hope they do a full video recap of these riders' qualifications! That would be an awesome reason to spend Friday night at home and drink beer by myself. ...Instead of just drinking beer by myself every other Friday night, without a reason...
its huge, but u have to remember that when they measured it they went from the take off to the landing therefore they didn't measure the vertical distance they measured taking into account lateral so it wouldn't be as high as the 7th floor. (i think)
^ yeah that occurred to me but there was no way i was gonna post anything remotely critical of it... f*ck pythagoras let's call it a 76 foot drop and be done with it!
If these guys were riding low gravity terrain like in the moon, they would enter into orbit... fact!!! I am feeling like the justin bieber of MTB right now!!! Maybe even less masculine than bieber!!! Bye guys, I'm going out to buy a bikini, I don't deserve to ride bikes anymore!!!
I'm just waiting for a possible side shot of it like they had with that drop... so hard to tell but to where they landed, I wouldn't doubt it for a second. Holy crap that is monsterous. here's a photo sequence of it giving a different angle... www.vitalmtb.com/videos/features/Aggy-Goes-Deep-at-Rampage,27022/iceman2058,94
Man... I am scared.... what a thriller!!! I will stop watching horror movies... nothing is as scary as this man.... holy mother of god!!! WTF!!!
So much respect for this guys.... can't even find a number to quantify that!!!
"What the F are we doing dude?" - Andreu. That pretty much sums it up. Looks like both of them have raised the bar this seson and are in top form, hungry for the win.
I think when Andreu starts questioning how gnarly the shit they are riding is, that's when it is getting super-gnarly! That drop looked terrifying. Cannot imagine what went through Aggy's mind beyond 'please just fucking land this thing!'. Huge props to them both!
I never thought they can spice up things even more and more from year to year. As a spectator I just thought there is a level, with a limit but they proved there is no limit!! Crazy cant wait till sunday it will be a good evening program
EVIL KNIEVEL -- FUGHHHHH.. damn why didnt I go.. thx PB for tellin us to get our tickets months ago.. be there next year. I'd gladly pound rocks for three days for these supermen.. ok -- I gotta watch this another 10x and then get back to work..
At least for me, its really interesting to see how different riders handle overshooting things. Aggy just went for it and tried to soak it all up, while Lacondeguy leaned farther back and let his suspension do more of the work.
If bender had the 2014 dh bikes we have today , he would landed most of those drops he crashed on. Andreu hit the landing way tail heavy, but his grip and bike saved him.
I like that it is just a natural feature. No wooden ramps or sponsored set-ups. I realize sponsors make the event happen, but it is nice to see just a bunch of guys out digging lines and coming up with there own ideas.
WTF Aggy need to quali for? He already proved himself last year. Everyone should have to qualify, or no one should have to qualify. What a bogus load of bullshit they're still doing this shit wrong!
it's lip to landing, not an actual vert drop. both ways count, but with lip to land it can sound bit bigger and chicks will dig it more, altough, aggy still has the biggest balls on earth and chicks are scared of them.
Exactly ! what a f*ck you are doing !? Im with my broken ankle watching this shit thinking about the same thing ! hahah Good Luck on the competition, you guys are the best !
Man alive did I get sweaty palms watching that, then my heart sank as reality set in that the biggest drop I've done so far was barley over 12 ft... oh well.
if they would have filmed it from another angle it would be even more spectacular for sure. and landing looks super steep no wonder they overshoot it. huge props
"What the Fu#k are we doing?" Lol ....
thank you PB / RB, coverage so far has been so good just pumped for Sunday
Also, I'll say it again, even though it's getting redundant how much everyone is asking for it, I really hope they do a full video recap of these riders' qualifications! That would be an awesome reason to spend Friday night at home and drink beer by myself. ...Instead of just drinking beer by myself every other Friday night, without a reason...
And I think this is bigger than the Strait/Zink Oakley drop from last year. Or at least as ballzy. Does anybody can confirm ?
Link : www28.zippyshare.com/v/71561731/file.html
It seems I was wrong.
BTW: These "holy shit"s sounds like fake orgasms.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlbdvJXeyNY&list=UUl1TL_tVKejx6-byzySzS6A
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ0fsxv-KNw
and it was just 20 years ago..
How am I going to be able to watch the rest of the Rampage with a blown mind?