Scotty Cranmer prevails in BMX Park Finals at Portland Invitational – 2011 Dew Tour
The accomplished BMX professional rider, Scotty Cranmer, emerged victorious in the intense Final of BMX Park at Portland Invitational, the second stop on 2011 Dew Tour, which went down in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, August 13.
Dew Tour rookie Kyle Baldock put up a vigorous fight, but eventually had to settle for runner-up place. X Games 17 gold medallist Daniel Dhers rounded out the third position to complete the podium.
The Finals pitted 10 in-form riders against each other for the top honours, with the format of the competition requiring them to throw down two runs, with the best one to get considered.
The line-up for the Finals was full of talented riders, promising an intense contest for the highest spot on the podium. However, once the battle commenced, it soon turned out to be a head-to-head battle between Cranmer and Baldock for the win.
The New Jersey-based rider, Cranmer, kicked off the Finals with an exquisite first run, throwing down moves such as fufanu to ice-pick to tail-tap on top of the park course wall-ride to huge flip whips. The sensational run earned him a score of 91.38 points,
putting him in the lead.
However, by the time Baldock was done with his first run, the scoreboard showed two riders sitting on a score of 91.38 instead of one. The rookie had managed to come up with an exceptional performance to stay par with his rival’s performance.
As the fate of the competition came down to the second run, Cranmer dug deep into his bag of tricks this time. His second run, which featured a flip double whip over the hitching post, earned him 92.00 points, allowing him to break the tie and move in front
once again.
Baldock had a daunting task ahead of him, but he still made a determined charge. Responding to his rival’s run, he unleashed the more technical and daring tricks in his arsenal, but even a big no-handed front flip on the step up or massive front flip whip
failed to get him past his first-run score. Consequently, he had to surrender victory to Cranmer.
Commenting on his winning run during the post-Final interview, Cranmer said, “I watched the replay and it still doesn’t make sense that I actually landed the flip double whip on the hitching post. My foot was miles away and somehow made it to the pedal and
rode away. Honestly it was in God’s hands and I thank him for it.”
After missing out on the podium at the previous stop of the Dew Tour, Dhers managed to make it into the top-3 at Portland Invitational after coming up with an impressive performance. He earned his best score of 91.25 off the first run, which featured a perfect
360 tail-whip to bar-spin over the sub-rail, along with corked 720s.
After the first two BMX Park events, Baldock leads the standings while Cranmer and Enarson sit in second and third place respectively.
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