An estimated 25,000+ fans were on-hand to witness 19-year-old Thomas Genon of Belgium win the 2012 Red Bull Joyride, the anchor event of Crankworx Whistler. In second place was Red Bull athlete Martin Soderstrom of Sweden and in third was American Cam McCaul. With this win, all three athletes earn themselves an automatic invite to come back to compete for the next three years.

Wind was a factor but the riders chose to battle it out and threw down an impressive array of tricks on multiple lines of the highly trickable, rider-designed course built just for Red Bull Joyride in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. "This might be my favorite slopestyle course at Crankworx, ever," said third place finisher McCaul. "I love the big jumps, huge drops and technical features."


Thomas Genon, a relatively unknown rider from Belgium, rode extremely clean and strong; executing high-risk tricks including the only backflip onto the Bud Light Cabin the entire night. "I was fixing my music at the top of the run and someone came over to tell me that I won the comp," says Genon, who seemed to still be processing his win at the press conference following the event.


Some tough breaks for crowd favourite Brandon Semenuk took him out of contention for a podium at Red Bull Joyride. Martin Söderström knew this would be his night to get back in the driver's seat. "I had so much pressure to be first in the world and with only one event left, the Red Bull Rampage, I am ready to jump on my DH bike and get the title," says Söderström. Although Genon had a super strong run that earned him the win, everyone on the podium agreed if Söderström could have cleanly executed the 360 double tail whip off the cabin, first place and the Red Bull Joyride title would have been in his hands.

Red Bull Joyride Results
First Place:    Thomas Genon (Belgium)    $25,000
Second Place:    Martin Söderström (Sweden)    $10,000
Third Place:    Cam McCaul (USA)     $5,000


Red Bull Signature Series
Watch Red Bull Joyride on Saturday, October 6 at 1:30 pm ET/10:30 am PST on NBC. The event airs as part of the “Red Bull Signature Series," the most progressive and innovative wakeboarding, surfing, mountain biking, freestyle motocross and BMX events. For more information, click here.