Swatch Rocket Air Becomes FMB Gold Event

This year, the Swatch Rocket Air will raise its level in the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour becoming a ”Gold Event.” On the 29th and 30th of April, the beautiful Alpine city of Thun will be hosting one of the 10 most important bike events in the world.

The Hunziker brothers and their team can be proud of what they have created. Seven years ago nobody could have imagined the event’s success. “Becoming a gold event is the result of the hard work we have been committed to over the past seven years,“ reports Ramon Hunziker. He goes on to explain the system behind the classification: “There are four different levels in the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour. The Diamond League, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Because the event is rated higher, the riders are able to gain more points towards their overall tour score and therefore, elevates the events importance.”

But what does the “Gold” ranking actually mean for the Swatch Rocket Air? “Regarding the Event itself, there won’t be that many changes because of the new level,” in the opinion of Jérôme Hunziker, “We have already been producing a very high level event concerning the course and the level of the riders. What we are expecting is that even more qualified riders will show interest in our event.“ He is also sure that because of the new level, the media presence will grow making the difficult search for sponsors easier.

The boost of event level will be taken as an opportunity to again improve some details. The spectators can look forward to seeing some new things. The team of Swatch Rocket Air is adapting the course as well as the theme for this year’s event. Course builder, Ramon Hunziker, doesn’t want to reveal too much. He already spent hours planning the new course. “It is almost impossible to build a totally different course. At some point we reach a limit because the ice rink of Thun is ultimately a fixed building. But spectators can definitely expect some surprises this year. The event may take place in the Swiss Alps but the riders can get ready for a completely different kind of atmosphere because the theme for the 2016 Swatch Rocket Air will be “into the jungle.“ A horde of crazy monkeys will fight for golden points in the Freeride circus of the FMB World Tour.