Minden's Paul Basagoitia continued to show why he's one of the best mountain bike freeriders in the world when he won the Red Bull District Ride over the weekend in Catania, Italy.
Basagoitia, 19, won the first of two Red Bull
District events in which riders cover a course in which they are able to perform tricks with their bikes. The second Red Bull event will be held on Aug. 5 in Nuremburg, Germany. The overall finisher in the two events will win a new Ford pickup truck and a $20,000 bonus, so Basagoitia is well on his way to winning those prizes.
Carson City's Cameron Zink is also competing in the Red Bull series and took 10th in Italy.
"I've just been practicing," said Basagoitia, a Douglas High graduate. "I've just been super focused. I've just pretty much decided my whole life is this thing."
In Catania, the moutain bike event was done in an urban setting. The mountain bike event in Nuremburg will also be in an urban setting.
The event in Catania started at the top of the city and went to downhill to the bottom of the city with an obstacle course that included anything and everything and probably even the kitchen sink. Riders performed tricks over the obstacles as they covered the course. "It was pretty craze," Basagoitia said.
Basagoitia's last trick clinched the title. He was the only one to complete a 360 tailwhip and nailed the landing - a landing he admitted he didn't expect to stick.
"It's pretty much the hardest trick in the business so far," Basagoitia said. "I pretty much nailed it."
Basagoitia also took second in the Adidas Slopestyle event held in June in Austria, doing a series of backflips, 360s, barrel roles and Superman seat grabs.
Next up for Basagoitia is the Kokanee Slopestyle where he's the two-time defending champion. Basagoitia will compete in the event to be held in Whistler, Canada, July 27-29.
Slopestyle is the same as snowboarding slopestyle, except its done with moutain bikes on dirt and the event in Whistler will be done in a more traditional moutain bike atmosphere.
To promote the event, Basagoitia was one of two riders who recently did demonstrations in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, Canada. Zink also took third in last year's Kokanee Slopestyle.
Basagoitia said the goal is for him and Zink to go 1-2 at Whistler. "That's our plan,'" Basagoitia said. "We pretty much travel together."
While Basagoitia said he didn't know what his total winnings were from his sport, he added he "easily" makes a living. "It's enough to pay the bills and nnot stress on it for sure," he said.