White Style 2013

Pavel Alekhin Vishneviy is the winner of the White Style 2013 in Leogang, Austria. The Russian took home the win in a spectacular Best Trick Competition after unfavorable weather conditions made a regular slopestyle event impossible. Adrian Tell from Norway came second while Sam Reynolds from Great Britain completed the podium in third place.


Rain, fog, mild temperatures – the weather conditions were pretty tough for this year’s White Style event in the Austrian ski and bike resort Leogang. But the best freeride mountain bikers in the world braved the weather and showed the 2,000 excited spectators an unforgettable show with the best ending for the Russian Pavel Alekhin Vishneviy.


A long day at Leogang’s Schanteilift concluded with a fascinating trick spectacle that put a lot of smiles on the faces of the spectators. Because this White Style was more than unique: Due to the changing and unpredictable weather conditions the event organizers from Bikepark Leogang had to cancel the first run of the finals after the first four riders had already completed their runs. Dense fog made it impossible for the judges to oversee the whole course and the organizers could no longer guarantee the safety of the athletes on the upper part of the course. But this wasn’t the end of the show – actually this was the beginning of a remarkable show of the some of the world’s best slopestylers. Event organizers, riders and judges decided to go for a Best Trick session at the massive final jump of the course. And the riders showed all their skills over the 35+ foot gap.

The Russian Pavel Alekhin Vishneviy was the most active rider in the 30-minutes jam session and stepped up his game with every try showing a massive backflip double-tailwhip on his last jump for the win of the White Style and 2,500 € prize purse. Adrian Tell from Norway came close with a smooth frontflip no-hander but crashed hard on his last Cashroll attempt. Last year’s winner Sam Reynolds (UK) showed a super-stylish nothing to no-foot can and finished 3rd place. Teo Gustavson from Sweden impressed with a double-tailwhip for 4th place while the youngest rider in the field, 18-years old Anton Thelander (SWE) finished 5th.



Due to the critical weather conditions White Style failed the FMB World Tour requirements but nevertheless spectators and visitors enjoyed a great show in Leogang. During the training session riders as Thomas Genon (BEL), Mehdi Gani (FRA) or Szymon Godziek (POL) showed the extreme high technical level of slopestyle riding in 2013. After White Style it is clear: freeride mountain bike fans can expect a great season!


So despite the trouble with the weather event organizer and Head of Bikepark Leogang Kornel Grundner was totally satisfied with this year’s competition: “Of course we wanted to show the spectators White Style in its regular format, but this wasn’t possible today. Nevertheless this event was a success for us and I think also for the riders and the visitors. It was really a great show and I’m already looking forward to White Style 2014!"