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Every Dew Tour stop is guaranteed to pack a meaty punch of incredible action, but the Vans Invitational just left Portland BMX fans dazed and confused, reeling from the tricks they saw go down in the Rose Quarter. The third stop of the Tour brought out brand-new winners in Dirt and Park, as well as a host of insane tricks, including the second-ever 1080 landed in competition. Portland is a killer city with a strong BMX scene, and it all came together to produce one of the best BMX events in recent memory.
It all started on Friday afternoon at the Dirt Finals. Ryan Nyquist had aced his competitors at the previous stops in Baltimore and Cleveland, and was looking to bring home a third win, increasing his overall points lead to an even more comfortable margin. 16-year-old shredder Dennis Enarson blew that plan to smithereens, landing three solid, high-scoring runs - featuring a couple of triple tailwhips - to take his first win of the Tour. Diogo Canina (2nd) made history with the first opposite double tailwhip landed in Dirt competition, and Anthony Napolitan (3rd) broke out two new frontflip variations, the suicide no-hander and a tire grab to barspin. TJ Ellis and Ryan Guettler even threw out double backflips. It was nuts, to say the least. Nyquist was able to finish high enough to maintain his points lead, and since his closest competitors, Cameron White and Corey Bohan, didn't fare so well, he even increased his lead a bit, inching him one step closer to the year-end Dirt Dew Cup.
Vert was up next, and Jamie Bestwick delivered another world-class performance for the win, despite sliding out in his first run on a tailwhip flair. His second run featured all of his usual bangers, plus a huge new downside whip to x-up. Simon Tabron dropped into 2nd with his no-hander to barspin 540 and a smooth 900, and Kevin Robinson sealed third with a 540 whip. The Vert points race was a tight one going into this event, and Bestwick was able to build up a 30-point cushion with this win. He's got two Dew Cups already, but there's always room on the mantle for another.
Daniel Dhers was practically a shoe-in for his third Park win in a row, but he was bested by both Mike Spinner and Dave Mirra , who threw down incredible runs. Spinner landed the 1080 as smooth as can be, and went on to drop a 900 in the same run, which gave him the win and a sizable bump in overall points. Mirra was riding to his own high standards, killing the course with bigger and higher hits than everybody else. Defending Dew Cup champ Dhers was no slouch himself, pulling every form of double tailwhip and flair variation in the books for 3rd. He's still holding a 55 point lead, but he'll have to make sure he keeps rookie Spinner out of the top spot at the next two stops for a crack at a second Dew Cup. The BMX riders are making sure that the Tour is heating up at each stop, so Salt Lake City better start bracing itself for some wild action. We could get more new winners there, or Dhers and Nyquist could come battling back and put the stomp on their competitors just to prove a point. However the cards fall, there's sure to be nothing but ridiculous tricks along the way. Adios, Portland, and we'll see you in Salt Lake.
