37-year-old Zink makes stellar second ride to win Red Bull Rampage

Written by Jeff Richards
October 13, 2023

VIRGIN — Seventeen riders competed in the 17th edition of Red Bull Rampage on Friday, with Cam Zink winning the event after an electrifying second run that earned him 95 points from the judges.

Bienvenido Aguado Alba celebrates after winning an award at Red Bull Rampage, Virgin, Utah, Oct. 13, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

For the Hawaii-based Zink, it marked his 12th time competing in the iconic freeride mountain biking event, and his second win. At 37, Zink was the oldest rider in this year’s competition.

Zink’s first run on Friday morning ended in disappointment following a hard landing on an early jump that left him unable to continue the ride.

“It takes a lot for a run to line up, and after I cased that jump, my jitters and nervousness switched to competitiveness,” Zink told event announcers afterward. “I was ready to go again and tackle my second run, and I knew the wind wouldn’t ruin this for me.”

During his decisive second run, Zink set himself apart as the only athlete of the day to drop into the steep and consequential “grandfather drop.” After, he stuck a 55-foot jump leading into a massive backflip on a 63-foot step down that was recreated from his winning run in 2013.

“I’m glad I reached for the stars and got the win,” Zink added. “The original ‘sender’ was 10 years ago, and my last win was 13 years ago … and it was still the biggest step-down flip I’ve ever done, and here we are again. It’s still just as intimidating and scary. I’ve put in a lot of work, and I feel fortunate to still push it at 37, as the oldest to compete here.”

Joining Zink on the top-three medals podium were runner-up Tom Van Steenbergen of Canada and third-place Carson Storch, who had scored a respective 89 and 87 points during their first runs to lead the field.

Riders compete at Red Bull Rampage, Virgin, Utah, Oct. 13, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Red Bull media pool, St. George News

Van Steenbergen’s run included a straight caveman drop from the start gate, followed by a big 360 and a highly technical flat drop backflip.

Following the same line as Van Steenbergen, Storch’s impressive run included a backflip, along with two of his signature 360 spins. 

At the very end of the second round, Van Steenbergen and his good friend Storch opted to skip their runs and instead rode down one right after the other in a non-competitive fashion, thereby settling for second and third place, respectively. 

Hundreds of people attended the event, which featured athletes from eight different countries.

Three local riders from Southern Utah were especially popular with the crowds. Reed Boggs, 26, of Hurricane made two solid runs (76.23 and 76.73) to finish 10th overall. Right behind him in 11th place was 29-year-old DJ Brandt of Cedar City, who was competing in his fourth Rampage. And representing St. George was Jaxson Riddle, who finished 14th with a score of 68. Although just 21 years old, Riddle was competing at Red Bull Rampage for his third straight year.

Another crowd favorite was Bienvenido Aguado Alba of Spain, who took home three specialty trophies: the T-Mobile People’s Choice Award, the Kelly McGarry Spirit Award, and the Utah Sports Commission Best Trick Award. The trick that earned him that award was a front flip of more than 70 feet over a canyon gap.

Other special trophies were awarded as follows:

  • Kyle Strait of California won the BFGoodrich Tires Toughness Award after returning to the event and conquering the same line that he injured his back on last year. 
  • Emil Johansson of Sweden won the Michelin Style Award for his fluidity and flow on the course, along with his unique trick combinations. 
  • The Carvana Digger Award went to Boggs’ building team.

Although this year’s event originally had 18 competitors, British rider Gee Atherton had to withdraw due to injury after crashing in practice on a 60-foot drop earlier in the week

Friday’s event replay is available on-demand on both ESPN+ and Red Bull TV. On Oct. 22, viewers can tune in to ESPN to watch a 90-minute highlight version beginning at 3 p.m. Mountain Time.

Red Bull Rampage 2023 official final results
  1. Cam Zink (USA) 95.00.
  2. Tom Van Steenbergen (CAN) 89.00.
  3. Carson Storch (USA) 87.00.
  4. Brendan Fairclough (GBR) 86.66.
  5. Talus Turk (USA) 84.00.
  6. Kyle Strait (USA) 83.58.
  7. Emil Johansson (SWE) 82.83.
  8. Bienvenido Aguado Alba (ESP) 79.44.
  9. Thomas Genon (BEL) 77.41.
  10. Reed Boggs (USA) 76.73.
  11. DJ Brandt (USA) 73.51.
  12. Alex Volokhov (CAN) 72.00.
  13. Kurt Sorge (CAN) 69.66.
  14. Jaxson Riddle (USA) 68.00.
  15. Adolf Silva (ESP) 51.33.
  16. Szymon Godziek (POL) 0.00.
  17. Clemens Kaudela (AUT) 0.00.
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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