Continental goes to X Games Munich

Tire manufacturer Continental sends two promising athletes to the first mountain bike slopestyle competition during X Games Munich: Swedish trick machine Martin Soderstrom and the Spaniard Andreu Lacondeguy. Moreover, young gun Anton Thelander will compete at Red Bull Phenom, a side event for upcoming riders that will also be held on the massive X Games course in Munich’s Olympiapark. The three athletes will have to rely heavily on the grip from their Continental tires when they take to the most demanding course ever built for a European mountain bike event.

The X Games are often called the Olympic Games of extreme sports. This is quite an appropriate comparison since the X Games are the most renowned throughout extreme sports. In 2013, X Games will be hosted for the first time in Germany and Munich seems like the perfect city for it with its highest natural hill, the ‘Olympiaberg’: on that hill the mountain bike slopestyle contest will debut as part of the official program, the finals are scheduled for Sunday, June 30th at 3:00pm (CET). Of course only the world’s best riders will compete there, so the crème-de-la-crème of mountain bike slopestyle will be making their way to Munich this week. The German tire manufacturer Continental will be equipping their three best athletes with top graded, handmade “BlackChili Compound” tires for the X Games slopestyle competition.

Martin Soderstrom: the ‘Giant’ from Uppsala, Sweden, who has been riding his Continental Race-King ‘BlackChili Compound’ for many years, was automatically qualified for X Games because of his FMB World Tour 52 Week Seeding List ranking that counts the results of the last 52 weeks. Martin is especially keen on participating at X Games Munich – he hopes that this Diamond event will turn his season around after having a series of unfortunate crashes at previous FMB World Tour events this year. Most unfortunately, at Red Bull Berg Line he attempted his signature trick, the incredibly complex triple tailwhip but landed slightly of axis and missed the following jump. He placed 9th that day in Winterberg – not high enough to meet his expectations. However, despite certain mishaps he remains third in the overall ranking and a good result from X Games Munich could certainly give him the lead he needs in his quest for the overall FMB World Tour title. If you were a betting person, placing your money on Martin would not be a bad idea – his skill-level and consistency as well as his very clean and stylish riding make him a favorite for the victory at this week’s competition. Martin also feels confident: “I’m in really good shape at the moment, but was extremely unlucky at my last couple of competitions. But at some point I will land my best tricks. And this will hopefully be at X Games Munich, so I think I could compete for a podium place”, comments Soderstrom.

Andreu Lacondeguy: The little Catalonian is a natural X Games competitor. Andreu is an athlete without limits: already involved heavily in big mountain riding, Slopestyle and dirt jump, he also has epic skills on his FMX bike and BMX. With his “the bigger the jumps, the better” approach, Andreu will be right at home on the X Games Munich slopestyle course. There are a couple of huge jumps that should put a big smile on Andreu’s face. As one of the most charismatic personalities in mountain biking. Competing at this event is fulfilling a childhood dream for Andreu: “I’ve known about the X Games since I was a little boy. In the last years, I saw so many of my friends from FMX riding there and I always said: damn, someday you also have to go there and compete. Now I am! Ok, it’s on a mountain bike, but that’s even more fun for me!” Andreu is certainly amongst the favorites for a medal and there is no doubt he plans on sending it big during his run.


Anton Thelander: The young gun from Sweden has chosen the Continental X-King as his weapon of choice for the X Games course. After his surprising and amazing performance at Red Bull Berg Line (third place), he can already call this year a dream season. Since he can’t qualify for the line-up via the 52 Week Seeding List, Anton decided he could not let this opportunity slip away, so he applied for the Red Bull Phenom competition. This separate side event of X Games is dedicated to the new blood of the sport and takes place on the same course. The winner will get an exclusive and professionally produced Red Bull highlight clip. Anton is clearly a strong competitor for Red Bull Phenom and has high expectations of a win this Sunday: “For a young guy like me, it is an absolute honor to be part of the X Games. I am 110 percent motivated to make it an unforgettable event for me”, says the Scandinavian rider about his participation in Munich.


Here is the schedule for the mountain bike slopestyle contest at X Games Munich:

Sunday, June 30th 2013
08.30am – 10.15am practice / warm-up (Mt Bike + Red Bull Phenom)
Eliminations – 16 riders (2 runs, better one counts)
10.30am – 11.30am eliminations (1st run)
11.30am – 12.30am eliminations (2nd run)
12.30am – 12.45am warm-up Red Bull Phenom
12.45am – 01.30pm Red Bull Phenom

Finals – 10 riders (2 runs, better one counts)
01.45pm – 02.45pm warm-up finals
03.00pm – 03.35pm finals (1st run)
03.45pm – 04.15pm finals (2nd run)


Continental is already looking forward to the mountain bike event of the year and crosses its fingers for its athletes Martin Soderstrom, Andreu Lacondeguy and Anton Thelander. Good luck!