Ouest Bike Show 2019
Ouest Bike Show is the oldest European stunt riding competition, with the largest prize pool of €15,000. For many years the strongest European professional stunt riders have been coming to France, but the competition still hasn't become a full-fledged world championship, because it takes place on the West Coast, in the town of Bourgneuf-en-Retz. The location is simply too far for the participants from Eastern and Northern Europe, let alone for the Russians. We had wanted to visit this competition for a long time, and this year we finally found suitable tickets to Nantes (the nearest airport) with one change only. The competition is known for its high level of organization, fun contests and, most importantly, the French stunt riding you can see there!
The French stunt riding school is the most stylish and innovative. It gave us a lot of tricks and opened up new ways of riding. The French rarely go to international competitions, so you have to go to them, especially since the location is amazing: the ocean, beaches, the sun, wine, oysters, and croissants. When planning your trip to the Ouest Bike Show, don't forget to plan some extra days for relaxing.
This year, the organizers have changed the format by making two qualifying runs on the first day and two final runs on the second day. The winner was chosen according to the sum of the final runs. We liked it this way because we could see more stunts and styles. If the first run didn't work, there was a second attempt.
Marcin Glowacki (Poland), Foma Kalinin (Russia), and Joona Vatanen (Finland) were striving for victory. Romain Jeandrot (France) kept up with them as well. The narrow area worked in Glowacki and Jeandrot's favour, so they became the leaders. Kalinin and Vatanen had to lower their tire pressure and rebuild their freestyle, as their standard programs were too fast and wide.
For the second year in a row Marcin Glowacki became the winner. He was very stable in both runs and showed his standard season program without any significant changes. For Joona Vatanen it was really hard to adapt to the size of the spot on his powerful CBR1000RR, but he managed to show almost the entire standard freestyle (except for highchair power circles with ride-outs) and took second place. Foma Kalinin was leading after the semi-finals, but in the final he made mistakes, and his freestyle was simpler. As a result, he took third place. Romain Jeandrot only landed the shuffle 360 in qualifying, but other than that, he showed the fastest and most aggressive stunt riding on a 600cc bike with dynamic transitions and insane jumps.
The best freestyle of the season was performed by Niko Säkkinen (Finland) in the second final. He did the hardest 360 kangaroo, the entire set of stoppies (HC 180, 270, kangaroo), HC powers, no hands seatdown circles. His ride was intense, fast, and without any serious mistakes — as a result, he took fifth place. Sarunas Kezys (Lithuania) also successfully finished the season in France, and took sixth place. He performed fast spins with a position change, and a shuffle 360. The most experienced Zoltán Angyal continues to demonstrate a high level despite his age. A dynamic, strong performance with signature tricks and a confident kangaroo — as always, he made the TOP 10.
There were some stylish and interesting French riders with unique stunts. For the first time we saw the no hand seatstander and no hand watchtower performed by Nicolas Markadé. Photos of these stunts have been circulating online for a long time, but we didn't know what came next. Anthony Bléas looked like the legendary French rider Benjamin Baldini with his wide deep scrapes, low drift, smooth but fast flow, and wide pants, of course. Adrien Wegrzyniak didn't do well in the second final on his Triumph Street Triple, but overall at the competition he showed a high professional level with continuous, fast and aggressive flow, good stoppies and drift.
Between the runs, there were contests, but we only filmed the drift limbo. The contest is funny but unfair. Riders with clip-ons had an advantage, because a stunt bike with a handlebar gets taller when leaned over than in the upright position. This is clearly seen in the attempts of Jeandrot and Kalinin. In the end, Joona Vatanen beat Nicolas L'hozic.
Top 10 tricks from the official runs — there are some interesting new elements:
The French stunt riding level is high, and France still remains one of the leaders in this field. You should definitely come to Ouest Bike Show and see it for yourselves. Ouest Bike Show FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Ouestbikeshowcontest/