Pinkbike Awards: Event of the Year Winner

Dec 17, 2018
by Daniel Sapp  
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This year's contenders for Event of the Year were all large-scale international events ffeaturing the top riders in the world in their respective disciplines. The venues all held a unique and special energy and fans from around the world followed as the best of the best were crowned champions.

In no way did we want to exclude smaller or more local events that have a unique and special vibe - these are arguably the most important events and the soul of the community that unites us as riders. We simply focused on some of the biggest and most attended that people worldwide can relate to.

This year's events included several different disciplines - World Championships encompassed both endurance and gravity, the EWS in Finale was the last stop of the Enduro World Series, and Red Bull Joyride in Whistler was the final destination for this season's Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championship. All of these events are special and of a spectacular scale respectively but only one can be called Event of the Year. And the winner is....




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2018 Event of the Year
Red Bull Joyride Whistler



It's the biggest event of the year on the slopestyle calendar, and the final stop in the FMBA Slopestyle World Championship series - the last opportunity for riders to compete for the triple crown. Crankworx Joyride Whistler is in and of itself worthy of a nomination year after year due to the crowds and level of talent that shows up. All of the top riders lay it all out there showing their dedication and desire to win.

This year, on top of the normal fanfare, the battle came down to the last run, and was between Brett Rheeder and Nicholi Rogatkin. To take things further, Rogatkin had won the two previous rounds of Crankworx, putting him in the position to take home the elusive FMBA Triple Crown. With Rheeder sitting on a score of 94.50, it would take a nearly flawless and downright ridiculous run from Rogatkin to take home the win, but that's exactly what he did, becoming the first person ever to win the Triple Crown.

Despite the sky being filled with smoke to the point of blocking out the sun and cutting visibility down to a city block, tens of thousands of spectators showed up to watch the finals. In addition, people from around the world watched the event being broadcast live. The combination of the incredible venue and number of spectators from near and far coupled with the performances put on by the athletes earned Red Bull Joyride Whistler this year's award for Event of the Year. Congratulations are due to all of the athletes, builders, volunteers, broadcast media, and especially the fans.





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54 Comments
  • 132 2
 Interbike should have won.
  • 14 2
 The cancellation* of Interbike should have won. There I corrected it for you.
  • 29 7
 Rampage still get me every time
  • 12 3
 I actually thought this year's Joyride was pretty lame and not a great watch. Messere, Caverzasi, Nyquist, and Godziek all got shit scores, Emil had a good showing but he was clearly held back by his ailments, Semenuk just didn't show up, and so it basically boiled down to a pissing contest between the best technical slopestyler around (beyond maybe Semenuk), and a biker that draws all his inspiration from a Beyblade.
  • 12 2
 Mont ste anne world championship will win the ecent of the year 2019 i'm the first to predict it
  • 1 0
 I’d disagree and say snowshoe Wink
  • 8 0
 Deserved, was great to watch- I couldn’t bring myself to vote for rampage as “Brendog got robbed”
  • 2 0
 Fuckin ell, we rewatched that and then Rheeder's run earlier on tonight. Look like two different contests. Definitely robbed.
  • 1 0
 listening to Cam McCaul on the vital podcast gave some interesting insight to his run and score
  • 9 1
 so me pissing my pants drunk in a tent in the desert didn't make the cut, eh?
  • 3 0
 I voted for you. Just wasn't enough.
  • 6 1
 Did anyone posting actually read the article? It advances strong and logical arguments about why Crankworks won, notably the massive crowd and a storybook ending where the top riders gave outstanding rides when it mattered. You can imagine the people judging this may have actually been at a lot of these events and know first hand how it felt at the time. That's why they are called events. I'm sure the womens' World Championship XC race was close but this is a worthy result.
  • 3 2
 World champs was a much better event this year. The Kate Courtney upset was epic and the whole race was fantastic. Nino repeated. The men's DH race was ultra competitive with some surpises, and Rachel put on the scorcher of a lifetime in the women's. Rheeder crashed his best run and settled on the 2nd. Much of the field has basically no chance at a win. The sport's top rider chose not to participate. The course was a dumbed down version of last years. Pretty much every stop on tour in 2017 was better than 2018.
  • 1 0
 Also the parties were amazing in Lenzerheide. As far as I remember them
  • 4 0
 Looks at the picture... yep makes sense.
  • 9 6
 To award an Slopstyle 100% artificial event and not even nominate Rampage... must be some cover up underlines...
  • 3 1
 Especially considering how gnarly the Rampage course was this year. Not getting nominated makes zero sense.
  • 7 1
 Well considering how insane Crankworx was with almost everyone stomping crazy runs, I can see why. I'm not sure what percentage of the event being an "artificial" course has to do with the nomination process............. whatever your definition of artificial is since all the hits in Rampage are artificially built by the riders/organizers...
  • 5 1
 Crankworx is not just a slopestyle event. It is 2 weeks of Enduro, DH, Wipoffs, Slalom and just fun riding and all around. I suggest everybody go attend one.
  • 1 0
 @toddmania98: Ah good point! While I grew up watching it along with Rampage, I will never go there for Crankworxs. If you're going to Whistler, go to ride and not to sit around watching others ride... although I hear everywhere outside of the bikepark is empty. It seems next level insane during the event, that's probably what's keeping me away during that time.
  • 8 4
 Slopestyle.... meh.
  • 4 0
 World Champs got robbed!
  • 1 0
 Although I enjoy watching Joyride. There's only one event that I watch at work while it's live: RB Rampage!
  • 1 0
 How about World Championships in Lenzerheide..? I doubt there has ever been a bigger event in MTB before?
  • 1 0
 Whistler is well deserving of this! Year after year they put on a spectacular show
  • 2 0
 Yawn
  • 1 0
 Crankworx was really an amazing event
  • 1 0
 #rampagegotrobbed
  • 1 0
 typo at the begining.
  • 2 1
 redbull hardline?
  • 20 23
 No love for XC as usual..
  • 77 2
 Welcome to Pinbike. Are you new here?
  • 28 0
 I thought XC was one of those sideways smiley face things.
  • 5 0
 @bigtim: Does look a bit like a grimacing face.
  • 2 7
flag millsr4 FL (Dec 17, 2018 at 8:18) (Below Threshold)
 @bigtim: They're called emoticons or emojis Wink
  • 4 3
 @mtbr.com for ya
  • 7 5
 Yeah... I love me some XC, but event of the year on PB? Nope.
  • 14 9
 I blame the rise of Down Country
  • 4 2
 HAHA You love the pain of XC - Have some PB Forum pain....
  • 8 9
 World champs more people watched xc than dh
  • 4 6
 @onemanarmy: MTB isn't a popularity contest. PB is about what PB is about. There are plenty of XC sites (I guess?)
  • 6 0
 PBs coverage of XCO has been good though.
  • 10 2
 @endlessblockades: PB is about shoe in your face! Giving a bike for a review to Pinkbike is like inviting a banker to a college filled with social science students to give a lecture about free market economy. Boooo! booooooo!
  • 2 4
 @WAKIdesigns: huh
  • 4 2
 @WAKIdesigns: LOL. People down voting the truth. Already at a -4 for just sharing the facts. LOL!

Freaking pink bike. If it's not free ride, Slopestyle or DH the 14 year olds on PB can't handle it.
  • 8 0
 @onemanarmy: I always upvote Waki no matter what he says just to confuse the metrics.
  • 3 2
 @onemanarmy: I am afraid it is not 14yr olds, maybe in prop squad but in the comments... this is the sad part. Most hateful and dumb comments, teenagers are rarely capable of that
  • 3 2
 @WAKIdesigns: Could be right. The 35-45 year olds seemed to be getting increasingly snide. LOL! Maybe it's all the late nights with young kinds, just pissed off all the time. Ha!
  • 1 0
 @endlessblockades: LOL! Not a bad idea.
  • 2 0
 @onemanarmy: in winter it's a cess pool of angry, frustrated, time-poor, borderline-alcoholic middle aged men who refuse to admit their decline. The few kids are the ones who sound like they never studied 1930s German politics.
  • 1 0
 @onemanarmy: and then you've got those that inhabit the middle bit of the Ven diagram...
  • 2 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Waki, that was honestly one of your funnier comments. I’m still laughing. The comment boards here are brutal. True dat. But what I truly love about them is the fact that they’re as international as it gets. The IQ, education level, and professional occupation vary as much as the opinions on here. Regardless of the disagreements or level of disparity that the comments get to (shoe in face) the next article we’re all cool with each other and it begins again. Because every reader on this site has a love of MTB in common. It’s awesome.
  • 1 0
 @fattyheadshok: Waki's combination of intelligence and social asceticism is pretty fantastic.
  • 1 0
 @bulletbassman: I am very social in real life Frown
@fattyheadshok: thank you







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