More than 50.000 spectators and over 200 riders in the first two days here at the FISE World Series in Chengdu, China. Not bad for the first time doing it, eh?
Text: Johannes Jacobi
Photos: Dominik Wagner
The semi finals are over and nope, this time I don’t have any funny party stories to tell. Last night we tried to be clever and decided to say home for a good night of sleep. Guess what, no sleep after 5 in the morning anyway. Beers and good talks kept us awake until dawn and we definitely weren’t the last ones falling asleep. During breakfast, four hours later, one could still find riders drinking wine and enjoying life. Well, I guess that’s what happens when you end up at an event like the FISE which is first and foremost about bringing people together and having a good time!
But after all it didn’t affect the level of riding today. What looked like a nightmare of a competition at first, as riders arrived, barely able to walk towards the course, ended up in another amazing show for thousands and thousands of excited spectators.
Just before the comp started I received the news that Chengdu had a smog warning today and one should avoid outdoor activities. Well, let’s get it on. Next to a few other Chinese riders there even was a local rider from Chengdu, and obviously the crowd loved him. From waving, screaming and clapping, these people were amazing and after a few minutes no one was sitting down anymore.
Of course, the closer we got to the heats of the top qualifiers from day one, the crazier it got. Beautiful lines by Dominik Wagner, who again managed to snap some photos next to competing, and crazy transfers, spins ad even some grinds from the likes of Julien Cudot, Mr. Alfano, Maxime Genoud, Jeremy Suarez and so on. In the end Roman Abrate killed it again with the biggest tricks of the day. Unfortunately he got hurt at the end of the comp and it doesn’t look like he will be back on his wheels for the finals tomorrow. We wish him a quick recovery and hope to see him back on the ramps soon. Best wishes to Adrien Anne as well, who crashed into another rider and got hurt as well.
After the blading part everyone rushed to the mountain bike course to see some riders try a looping. Impressive spectacle and luckily no one got too badly hurt, and everyone made it after a few tries. I don’t have to tell you how wild the crowd went once again…
On the way back to the hotel we took a tuk tuk (well, it was a car with three tires) and the driver made sure we understood that traffic lights and even the side of the street and traffic direction doesn’t matter at all. Definitely the most interesting ride I’ve ever been on.
Right now we are preparing for a little bit of party, since we figured out that staying home isn’t an option anyways. But just a little bit, since tomorrow at 9am the junior comp starts and in the afternoon the finals are going down.
Check back for more updates and thanks for following us. See you tomorrow!
