Results: McCaul Qualifies First at Rampage

Paul Basagoitia David Reddick

After heavy rains and flash-flood warnings forced organizers of the Red Bull Rampage to delay qualifying by a day, riders took to the steep cliffs below Goosebury Mesa in Southern Utah on Sunday.

The rains started Friday night and lasted until early Sunday morning. Riders had practiced lines and sculpted jumps earlier in the week, but were kept off the course on Saturday. When they returned, they found the rains had softened the dirt, and made it easier to sculpt.

In addition to the natural gaps, drops and jumps, this year's course also featured several man-made stunt options. The area used for qualifying rounds on Sunday offered two start options with nearly a half dozen line choices for riders. Like previous Rampages, riders were allowed to create their own lines through a series of spines, ridges, cliffs, drops and washes.

This year, 28 riders were invited to the contest and Sunday's qualifying round was used to trim that down to the top 14 to compete in the finals, which have been pushed back to Monday. The rain delay also forced organizers to shorten qualifying from two runs per rider to just one.

With so much on the line, many riders chose to play it safe, opting for smooth, clean runs rather than risk crashing on difficult trick. Not everyone, however, subscribed to those tactics.

Cam McCaul was one of the few riders to trick most of the hits on his line, throwing two big no-handers during his run. Judges rewarded his aggressive riding giving him the highest score of the day.

"You’ve only got one run; you have to make it count," McCaul said later.

Brandon Semenuk, who also threw a few nice tricks, qualified second and Gee Atherton, the reigning world cup downhill champion, laid down a blistering run filled with big airs to qualify in third.

Those riders were followed by Darren Berrecloth, Kyle Strait (who won the event when it was last held in 2004) Michal Marosi, Dan Atherton, Cedric Gracia, Paul Basagoitia, Robbie Bourdon, Cameron Zink, Kurt Sorge and Graham Aggasiz. Thomas Vanderham and Mike Hopkins tied for the final qualifying spot.

Despite the rugged terrain, there were few injuries and only Matt Hunter suffered anything serious--he dislocated his shoulder. Chris Van Dine crashed hard off a high-speed drop but walked away without injury. Kiwi Kelly McGarry crashed in the same spot, but continued his run. And Andrew Taylor crashed attempting a backflip.

The finals start Monday at 1 p.m. Check back to Bikemag.com for results, more photos and videos.

The qualifier's podium Morgan Meredith