Brandon Semenuk, Brett Rheeder & Other Past Crankworx Slopestyle Champions Make Predictions for Rotorua 2020
2019 Crankworx Rotorua podium: 1st. Brett Rheeder (93.75), 2nd. Tomas Lemoine (87.00), 3rd. Alex Alanko (80.75)
With Brett Rheeder not competing in the Slopestyle contest in Rotorua, only one prediction is certain: the podium won't be the same as in 2019. We hear from six past Crankworx champions who are not competing in the Crankworx Rotorua slopestyle contest this year about who they think the favourites are for the first contest of the year.
The 14 riders competing in the slopestyle event at Crankworx Rotorua this year are Emil Johansson, Dawid Godziek, Tomas Lemoine, Torquato Testa, Erik Fedko, Alex Alanko, Nicholi Rogatkin, Thomas Genon, Paul Couderc, Lucas Huppert, Lukas Knopf, Anthony Messere, Timothé Bringer, and Owen Marks.
Brandon Semenuk, Brett Rheeder, Greg Watts, Andreu Lacondeguy, Cam Zink, and Paul Basagoitia weigh in on who is looking good heading to New Zealand.
Brandon Semenuk
11x Crankworx Slopestyle winner:
Crankworx Whistler (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017)
Crankworx Colorado (2008, 2009, 2010)
Crankworx L2A (2012, 2013)
Crankworx Rotorua (2016)
 | Emil’s killing it. He’s really dialed with hard trick combinations and he’s been able to take that to Slopestyle features, so it’s cool to see. I think Fedko’s also at a similar level. They’re doing a lot of the same things. I think Emil’s just a little bit ahead of Fedko right now in the contest format, but I think Fedko’s got the skills. He just puts his own touch on some of the tricks that he does. Watching him ride in general - his style of riding is quite nice, so I think that’s why he stands out. Obviously Nicholi’s going to keep doing crazy sh*t. If everyone was healthy, I’d probably put my money on Emil or Nicholi. |
Brett Rheeder
7x Crankworx Slopestyle winner:
Crankworx Whistler (2016)
Crankworx Rotorua (2015, 2018, 2019)
Crankworx L2A (2015)
Crankworx Les Gets (2017)
Crankworx Innsbruck (2019)
| Nicholi Rogatkin, Emil Johansson and Dawid Godziek will continue to turn heads and win contests but I'm most excited to watch Erik Fedko because of his style, bag of tricks and attitude. I also think Paul Couderc has a good chance at doing well. He’s been up and coming for some years now and based off his most recent video isn’t scared of going for it. All impressive athletes to say the least. |
Cam Zink
2x Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle winner (2006, 2010)
| Emil, for sure. When it comes to Emil, it’s kind of something that you can’t put into words or conceptualize too much, because he’s just got something different. When you watch him ride - mainly the way he practices - it’s just mind-blowing to watch how effortless things are and how dialed he is on all his basic tricks. Then you see him add something else in, or take a multi-trick combo that’s rarely been done before then add something else to that and add his own style to it. It’s just an amazing combination of pure bike control, confidence, skill, and style… He just has the whole package and knows how to attack a course and it’s pretty prevalent even when he’s just practicing. He’s definitely my favourite to watch throughout the whole weekend. Fedko’s probably next. I’m not saying he’s a level above Nicholi or he’s guaranteed to get second, but I think he’s going to be one of my favourites to watch. Mainly because he does flip superman seat-grabs, which is my favourite trick. He’s also bringing a little different style than just the barspin tailwhip combos. I really enjoy someone who does seat grab tricks and 360 indian airs and tricks like that... I’m pumped to see him killing it. |
Paul Basagoitia
2x Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle winner (2004, 2005)
| I’m excited for the 2020 Slopestyle season to start off. The field is so stacked. When I think of this year, the top riders that come to mind are Emil and Nicholi. I think those two are going to be battling it out throughout the year and I’m excited to see if there’s a Triple Crown winner or if there’s a repeat. I know Emil won Joyride last year and, putting myself in his position, I know he’s going to have a really consistent year, but to defend that Joyride title, that’s a tough one. I also think Erik Fedko could have a huge year. Watching him climb the standings last year, I can see him definitely being on the podium this year at a lot more Crankworx stops. Emil is bringing all these crazy variations into Slopestyle, all these tech tricks, and he’s doing it both ways. He’s the only guy in the field right now who’s able to throw those combinations, he has a really unique style when it comes to that. Then you’ve got a guy like Erik Fedko that, maybe doesn’t have the biggest tricks but, by far has some of the best style out there. We’re starting to see style get a lot more points in the Slopestyle game. The exciting thing about Nicholi is that he rolls the dice. Every time he drops in you have no idea what Nicholi is going to do. He has by far the biggest bag of tricks out of all the Slopestyle athletes, and you don’t know which one he’s going to be unleashing that day. With Brett coming back to do Joyride, I think Semenuk should come back to mix it all up. I think Semenuk can still win a Slopestyle contest all day long if he decided to ever step back in the game. It would be really cool to see all those guys compete at Joyride - Semenuk, Rheeder, Nicholi, Emil, Fedko. That would be such a crazy showdown. |
Greg Watts
1x Crankworx Slopestyle winner:
Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle winner (2009)
| As far as new riders, up-and-coming, I don’t know if it’s going to happen in 2020, but I’ve thought a bit about it, and I think it’s going to be someone you kind of don’t expect. Most likely some new euro kid. Slopestyle’s such a high turnaround - you don’t really know who’s going to be there until he’s there. Fedko - I think he’s going to do really well. Paul Couderc - I think has shown a lot of interesting new ways to ride. Another guy, if he can stick with a mountain bike for a bit, I think Dawid Godziek would be a good choice as an up-and-comer. I don’t know if there’s going to be a new North American champion for a bit, but I like David Lieb. He’s a young guy that’s got a lot of talent. I think if he sticks with it then in a few years he could probably be there. |
Andreu Lacondeguy
1x Crankworx Slopestyle winner:
Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle winner ( 2008 )
| I don’t really know...it seems like Emil is killin’ it. But my favourite is still Thomas Genon! Dude is a boss so I hope he wins and becomes the champion of the world. |
NB: We also reached out to 2x Crankworx Colorado Slopestyle winner (2007, 2011) Cam McCaul, but did not hear back from him in time for publication.
Your predictions:
Do you agree with Brandon Semenuk, Brett Rheeder, Greg Watts, Andreu Lacondeguy, Cam Zink, and Paul Basagoitia's predictions? Who do you think will take first place in the Slopestyle event in Rotorua?
Author Info:
Member since Mar 30, 2011
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
Love Andreu
but, I hope Godziek bring back some old school style. I miss Lacondeguys supeman extension since he left Slope an David is the only rider with that BMX/MX superman style.
With Semenuk an Rheeder gone there's alot of huck an hope flippy spinny riders lacking in finesse, so Emil will DOMINATE this year. Genon could challenge though...
“Who do you think will win the Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle contest?”
It was down the bottom where you could choose an answer.