All The Action From The Züri Dirt Contest

With the Züri Dirt Contest having taken place this past weekend, the second stop along the Swiss Dirt Series has come and gone. It was an action-packed weekend, filled with riders eager to showcase their skills and make their mark on the mountain biking world.

Saturday saw many athletes compete in the FMB Bronze level qualification event, performing to the highest level and bringing everything they had to their runs. While there was no separate women’s event, Kathi Kuypers and Gemma Corbera jumped in to partake in the men’s qualifying runs, leaving everyone stoked for what’s to come for women in freeride…

We were able to get some insights from Germany’s Nick Schubarth, the first-place finisher, about what the overall vibe was like on site during the event:

“We were all hoping that the weather would hold [off] because there were a lot of rain and wind! But the shapers at Zürich Jumppark did great work and we were grateful to ride! [The] contest [went ahead] and everyone was pushing it, so in the end I was happy with the day.”

After laying down a solid run, here’s what Schubarth had to say:

“This was my first [ever] first place [finish] at a FMB bronze event, so I was really happy in the moment! I wasn’t feeling very well on the morning [of] because I [didn’t get] enough sleep and the day before the contest I felt a lot better on my bike and [about my] tricks than in practice [during the event. But in the contest it worked out.”

Saturday’s results definitely got everyone stoked for what was to come the next day!

1. Nick Schubarth
2. Valentin Raimann
3. Jarno Ahnert

Sunday brought even more action, as riders competed in the Züri Dirt Contest finals, a FMB Silver level event. A livestream allowed spectators from around the world to tune in and cheer on their fellow riders, making the already exciting event that much more thrilling! Don’t think you missed out either because you can still watch the Züri Dirt Contest finals!

We connected with the first-place finisher, Austria’s Bernd Winkler, to get his perspective on all the action that took place over the weekend:

“First of all, it felt so good to be back at an event with most of the riders! And to win then felt unreal to me… I had a run planned in my head before the training, but I’m always looking [at] what the other riders do on the jumps and [then] decide [on] a run with good variety [and] with tricks nobody [else] is doing on the course. Even if [the tricks] are not too wild, it makes no sense for me to do a trick [that] five others [are] doing on the same jump. And [then] I try to get my run done as clean as possible.

The vibe [on site] was super good, I liked it pretty much! For me it felt good without stressing myself [out] and I think a lot of this [came down to] how the vibe of the event [was]!”

As the day wrapped on the podium with winners celebrating their victories, the results were not the only part of the event that made the entire weekend a success.

1. Bernd Winkler
2. Lucas Huppert
3. Alejandro Bonafe

As Dominik Bosshard, event contributor and photographer, put it:

“We had never had so many spectators or such a large number of participants. The whole event was a complete success.”

So even though the clouds rolled in and the weather was questionable, athletes and fans alike were able to partake in sportsmanship, wicked riding, and overall stoke. Just take a look for yourself!

There is nothing that gets us more hyped than an event that promotes the next generation of mountain bike riders and contributes to the growth of the sport, which is exactly what the Züri Dirt Contest, as a part of the Swiss Dirt Series, has done.

This weekend’s Züri Dirt Contest has left us wanting more… More runs, more jumps, more insane tricks. Luckily, the Swiss Dirt King Steffisburg, a FMB Bronze level event happening October 16, is set to conclude the Swiss Dirt Series and bring us one last hurrah.
We know that we shouldn’t wish the rest of summer away, but the fall can’t seem to come soon enough…

Photographer: Marcel Fankhauser (@naarsu69)