Results: Slopestyle - Crankworx Rotorua 2021

Nov 7, 2021
by Sarah Moore  

Emil Johansson has a five win streak going. One more win and he ll have six. Math is wonderful.


After four hours of delays due to weather, 13 of the best slopestyle riders in the world were able to take on the Crankworx Rotorua Maxxis Slopestyle In Memory Of McGazza. With his sixth win in as many slopestyle contests and all three in the 2021 Crankworx World Tour, 23-year-old Emil Johansson took the Triple Crown and its $25,000 prize purse, becoming only the second-ever winner of the trophy after Nicholi Rogatkin.


Final Results:
1st. Emil Johansson 95.75
2nd. Timothe Bringer 93.25
3rd. Nicholi Rogatkin 92.00
4th. Max Fredriksson 88.00
5th. Tomas Lemoine 85.25



Replay available here.

Posted In:
Racing and Events Crankworx Crankworx Rotorua 2021 Slopestyle


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69 Comments

  • 63 1
 Stoked for max fredricksson. He worked so hard this year. Absolutely got what he deserves after that mechanical in BC. What redemption!
  • 6 40
flag Ronkol (Nov 7, 2021 at 5:33) (Below Threshold)
 Rotorua is the event where his career went of the rails when he was arguably at his peak, so it's a bit of redemption, but quite frankly I don't see him podium on a diamond event anymore. If anything this fourth spot was a tad inflated (not begrudging him).

It's a bit hard to see where he can go from here considering he is not going to spin, frontflip or doubleflip. Fedko has a similar repertoire, but just better with his windshield wipers, Rogatkin and Lemoine are just consistently doing runs with a higher dificulty, Bringer is up there, Paulson is showing the big guns.

Middle of the pack (gold podiums sprinkled in) and Vlogging seems to be it for Max. Nothing wrong with that, he's a beast for sure, perhaps the best allround "trick on any bike" rider out there.
  • 10 0
 @Ronkol: by far the run with the most technical difficulty other than EMJ came from Max. He put down technical banger after technical banger. Although his execution wasn’t necessarily as on point as bringer or Emil his steez and quick maneuvering imo make him possibly the most technically skilled rider on the circuit. If he had gone later in the set of riders I’m sure he would’ve gotten a higher score.
  • 2 16
flag Ronkol (Nov 7, 2021 at 8:58) (Below Threshold)
 It's a jury sport for sure, as I said a "tad" which clearly means I'm not saying it's way too high to my taste, just thought Paulson should have pipped him. People disagreeing, sure, Im hardly an expert jury-member.

On his trick selection, it is at is. Max does not do twists or front flips. Fedko also doesn't have twists, Emil generally spins, but he can also pop a twist if need be. That's not my opinion, simply an observation. Anyone following Max will agree here.

On his future? Perhaps I'm wrong and he will start to podium again, but considering his trick progression and the progression of his competitors I find it unlikely. On the other hand he clearly is not a marginal rider at all, so he will stay in the circus for a few years more.
  • 4 0
 @Ronkol: he just got 4th. That means 3rd is very attainable
  • 32 0
 It was a nice moment, when Rogatkin gave the trophy to the new King himself. Pure athletic/olympian spirit.
  • 27 1
 If Rogatkin had landed and finished the RUN OF DOOM he absolutley would have taken the top spot.
  • 9 0
 Yea I really wanted to see that. I can only imagine the run Emil would have had to throw down after.
  • 4 0
 maybe but then Emil had one more run with more to throw down... It would have been the best slope comp of all time either way.
  • 19 3
 Possibly the best year in slopestyle as well!! What a stacked and talanted roster. Good to see griffin paulson smashing it! Emil deffinatly couldve pushed harder, but did receive a due win! Stoked for everyone!!
  • 17 47
flag BikesNRussets (Nov 6, 2021 at 21:57) (Below Threshold)
 And you definitely could’ve spelled definitely better. I couldn’t help it, but agree with you 100% if we forget that.
  • 19 1
 Emil's on another level at the moment. Congrats on the win!
  • 14 0
 Griffin got robbed Missed McCauls commentating for sure
  • 12 0
 Paulson representing PG well! Norbs would be proud
  • 5 0
 Super excited to watch him for years to come!
  • 14 6
 I get why oppos score more points. But I don't get why they score SO many more points. It seemed like oppo points boosted Emil's score past other riders with cooler runs. That's not a dig on Emil - he's an awesome rider, mad respect.
  • 11 2
 Because they’re SO MUCH more difficult.
Arguably easier for some than others though.
  • 15 4
 lol one thing you're right about is you "don't get it"
  • 8 0
 After watching Rampage livestream recently I have to say that slopestyle has a major benefit in that I'm not fearing for the riders' life for the whole duration of every run!
  • 1 0
 I think the tricks are more fun, too. I get why people like Rampage, but for me it's too much "drop - brake - bit hit - brake." I like the fluidity of slopestyle competitions.
  • 7 0
 Did they really said that Chopper and Thelander were “judging this contest via a Live Stream” …..presumably from Europe where it was 3am and 4am ?
  • 7 0
 Not the first event they did that since COVID disrupted everything. I don't think this particular cycling-event is really hampered by this kind of judging.
  • 4 0
 Chopper?
youtu.be/mh6pZQX22CQ
  • 6 0
 @chezotron: whose chopper is this?
  • 4 0
 @nikifor88: Zed, baby.
  • 4 0
 @chezotron: who's Zed?
  • 11 0
 @ybsurf: Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.
  • 6 0
 There was much more variance and creativity in this one compared to the silverstar event. I think this course made it much more interesting to watch.
  • 7 0
 What a amazing season of slope style, another great show put on by the riders, bravo y’all!
  • 4 0
 Also props to the Crankworkx team for getting it done
  • 3 0
 Seriously, what a solid event all round. So many stomped runs and only a few crashes... These are the most skilled riders out of anyone on two wheels.
  • 3 0
 Less talk, more riding. Are we riding today Goldstreamubrew?
  • 1 0
 Sadly no@woodtigerfish:
  • 4 0
 Between emil’s and nicolai’s tripple crown, nicolai’s was probably the best won tripple crown series for me. He was competing with brett back then, emil was also competing but I remember watching the joyride at whistler, man the experience while waiting for their runs, whose gonna one up who and will win. I think back then, the competition is just better.
  • 7 2
 Emil really is such an incredibly special talent. If Reeder and Semenuk came out of retirement at this point they'd be competing for 2nds and 3rds.
  • 6 1
 @BikesNRussets ha! Ya, I see that now. My bad on spelling!
  • 1 1
 It’s good, it’s happens to most of us.
  • 18 17
 I dunno, vibe was off, I know covid has a lot to do with it but the commentators were a snooze fest, little crowd, I didn’t even know it was even going down today, solid runs tho
  • 27 29
 NZ Gorv has gone off the rails, Can go to a huge party but cant go to an organised event, have to mask in a dairy/supermarket but can go to the local pisser and mingle with 100's of people with no restrictions.
Business's forced to introduce mandate vax for thier 5 staff, but yet have 100's of unvaxxed through the door...

Event organisers wont grow the balls to stand up about it.
Gorv has private restrictions on Advertisement of events where no one can attend hence the quietness from NZ

Cant wait till We go back to Queenstown next week... almost no restrictions down there lol
the summer series will be huge and have a massive vibe to it.
  • 23 4
 @noideamtber: totally I'm locked down like 80km away with 2 cases a day dribbling in I'm double vaxxed and my city is just shy of 90% vaxxed my business has been shut for over a month it's f*cking pure madness. No one even on the borders between levels enforcing it, but hey we are going to be the best in the world at covid, yeah right
  • 2 17
flag plyawn (Nov 7, 2021 at 6:13) (Below Threshold)
 @noideamtber:"Gorv "? I think I found your problem. You're following rules from the "Newb Zeelund Gorvurnmant".

>> Event organisers wont grow the balls to stand up about it
Easy to have bravado on the interwebs. The alternative to not following restrictions is the event doesn't happen. How is that preferable?
  • 16 17
 I wonder if Emil’s riding has something to do with the decline in the popularity of Slopestyle. His tricks were no doubt extremely difficult and cleanly executed, but spins are just not as exciting to watch as flips. As someone who can’t do a flip or a spin, I’m sure Emil’s score accurately reflects the difficulty of his tricks, but IMHO they just aren’t as fun to watch. Still Congratulations Emil for doing amazing things that none of us commenters will ever be able to do.
  • 16 2
 Speak for yourself. I would much rather watch a super smooth spin variation than any type of flip.

To me, flips appeal to a general audience who has no understanding of nuance or difficulty, just that he ‘they went upside down, ooohhhh!’.
  • 8 0
 The lack of "excitement" as you name it is a result of him making it look so insanely smooth, even though it's filled with little tweaks.

About fun, to each it's onw I guess. I love watching the slowmo and noticing he crammed in another bar, or how he plants his feet square on the pedals, drop weight to motor through and goes off again. It's stunning.
  • 4 0
 @Ronkol: I definitely need to slow Mo to comprehend what these guys are even doing! EMJ seems to be starting to suffer the same problem as Semenuk, where he is so good and smooth that people find it 'boring'. It's laughable to think about, but some of these guys are so good now that people have begun to expect nothing less than perfection from their runs. It will definitely be a treat to watch the years to come with the incredibly talented crew on the tour currently.
  • 1 2
 LOL "decline in the popularity of slopestyle"

my god, you people are delusional hahaha
  • 4 1
 @ww27: yeah, but I still love watching Semenuk (and Rogatkin to name another). I’m not against all of the tricks crammed into a single jump, but Emil just increasing the number of tailwhips or barspins during a flat spin just seems like more of the same to me. BMX street riders keep finding ways to up the difficulty while still keeping it fun to watch. Emil obviously deserves his wins, and I’m not debating that he isn’t better than the riders that he beat. I just think the tricks he choses lack the wow factor that riders like Semenuk throw down.
  • 1 0
 @dungeonbeast: that is my point exactly. Riders like Emil do tricks that appeal to the core riders, which I guess is good for progression, but might not be the best for keeping non-core fans hooked. But maybe that is a good thing.
  • 2 0
 @ww27: On Slomo... Bringer Quad-Barspin... ZOMG
  • 1 0
 Unreal. Great contest, congrats to Emil on the win, and all the riders on putting-on a sweet show in less than ideal conditions. Had a great time watching
  • 13 12
 Best commentators of slopestyle contest of all time, I hope they get to commentate on all slope contest.
  • 5 7
 God please no. Someone check Connors pulse, not sure dude is even alive. So bad.
  • 8 1
 @MikeyMT: Connor had great insights and behind the scenes knowledge that's far better than over reacting commentator. also explained well why some tricks scores higher.
  • 4 0
 @Zuman: Cam Mccaul also has great insights??? And Cam also explains why some tricks get higher scores???
  • 3 3
 @adamlaycock: Cam Mccaul is ok, but he is way to biased when commenting on his "old" friends, hehehe, Connor has way more insight on new style of riding and the up and coming riders.
It would be interesting to pair Cam and Connor,
  • 2 0
 Stoked for Bernd Winkler, haven't heard of him before, but what a name!
  • 1 0
 Wow….
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