Bestwick Wins Vert In Denver

Jul 16 2006 / Denver Dew Tour fans gladly made their way inside the Pepsi Center to escape the heat and watch Jamie Bestwick, Chad Kagy and Kevin Robinson duke it out at Saturday’s BMX Vert Finals. Simon Tabron, winner of the last stop of the Dew Tour in Louisville, did not come to Denver, so we expected to see a change in the overall tour standings after tonight’s Finals.

At the end of Round 1 the top riders appeared to be Bestwick, Robinson, Jimmy Walker, Dew Tour newcomer Tom Haugen, Denver local Jay Eggleston, and park big dog Josh Harrington. The big surprise there being that Chad Kagy lost his second place Prelim spot after unsuccessfully attempting a barrel roll 540 tailwhip.

Then in Round 2 the real battle began. Jay Eggleston, representing the home team and who placed 4th in the Prelims, linked a can-can x-up, 540 and tailwhip securing a 6th place finish. Jimmy Walker broke past the 90 point barrier and into 5th place with a great run highlighted by a turndown flair immediately followed by a 540.

PHOTO GALLERY   Jamie Bestwick put down huge flairs, a barspin 540 and a downside tailwhip flair in the Skate Vert Finals. VIEW GALLERY >   VIDEO Check out video of the front flip flair by Keith McElhinney from the Denver . Dew Tour. PLAY VIDEO >

And Dennis McCoy, if not the oldest athlete on the Dew Tour at 39 comes pretty damn close, seriously stepped it up for his second run busting out a 900 like nobody’s business. That put him in 4th. Kevin Robinson nailed his first run to take home third. Chad Kagy came back like a hurricane in the second round executing his barrel roll 540 tailwhip to a T and landing him in 2nd.

And the man that no one could stop was none other than Jamie Bestwick. Jamie put down huge flairs, a barspin 540 and a downside tailwhip flair. Overall he was smoother, went bigger and simply got the crowd going more than anyone else. That puts him in the points lead overall for this year’s Dew Tour.

Riders were a little concerned with having to qualify in the Prelims and compete in the Finals on the same day. But, it appeared that everyone was able to fight through fatigue coupled with the Denver altitude and put on an exciting show.

Most of these riders rode with injuries of some sort tonight. Jamie Bestwick had neck surgery to fuse two vertebrae shortly before the Louisville stop of the Dew Tour where he finished second. And Kevin Robinson rode with a torn rotator cuff.

Before the Finals started Anthony Napolitan dropped by to check out the action on vert and give props to the riders. When asked what he thinks of the vert guys he said, “I’m scared of vert. These guys are crazy.” That’s a big compliment coming from the man who won the Louisville Dirt Finals and placed second at Friday’s Dirt Finals.