Home > MTB

Red Bull Rampage news: Emil Johansson gets last minute call up

Updated rider list and best POV moments from the last 10 years of riding in Utah

Emil Johansson

Red Bull Rampage is just weeks away, and the excitement is already building.

This week, another qualified rider dropped out due to injury. Red Bull also released a look back at the best Rampage clips taken from the perspective of a rider.

Antoine Bizet out, Emil Johansson in

Emil Johansson already has a lock on the comeback story of the year after winning Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler in August. Now, the Swede has a chance to add another chapter to fairy tale story. Red Bull announced that the slopestyle specialist will have his first chance to compete at Rampage in 2019.

While Johansson is known more for his tricks on slopestyle courses around the world than his big mountain riding, he won’t be the first crossover athlete to find success at Rampage. Last year, Brett Rheeder switched to the big bike for Rampage and walked away with the win.

Can Johansson pull off the Joyride / Rampage double? When Rheeder won Rampage last year, he had been chasing that win for years. The Canadian even said after the event that his first Rampage appearance was more intimidating than he thought.

Johansson’s opportunity comes at the expense of Antoine Bizet. In 2016, Bizet won the Rampage People’s Choice award for his run, which included the first ever double back flip at Rampage. Bizet officially withdrew from Red Bull Rampage 2019 after suffering a broken arm during a training session. He joins Gee Atherton, who bowed out of the freeride event after injury earlier this month.

Tune in October 25 2019 as Johansson takes on the best freeriders in the world in the desert outside Virgin, Utah.

Red Bull Rampage 2018
Nelson, B.C.’s three time Red Bull Rampage winner Kurt Sorge rides during the 2018 Red Bull Rampage. Photo: Christian Pondella / Red Bull Content Pool

Updated 2019 Red Bull Rampage rider list:

  • Brett Rheeder (CAN)
  • Andreu Lacondeguy (SPA)
  • Ethan Nell (USA)
  • Tom van Steenbergen (CAN)
  • Thomas Genon (BEL)
  • Tyler McCaul (USA)
  • Kyle Strait (USA)
  • Szymon Godziek (POL)
  • Kurt Sorge (CAN)
  • Brendan Fairclough (UK)
  • Brandon Semenuk (CAN)
  • Cam Zink (USA)
  • Carson Storch (USA)
  • Graham Agassiz (CAN)
  • Reece Wallace (CAN)
  • Vincent Tupin (FRA)
  • Reed Boggs (USA)
  • Juan Salido (MEX)
  • DJ Brandt (USA)
  • Bienve Aguado Alba (SPA)
  • Emil Johansson (SWE)

The Wildest POV runs from Red Bull Rampage

Red Bull Rampage looks hard on TV, but it looks impossibly hard when viewed from a riders perspective. The incredible improvements in rider-mounted video cameras has allowed us all to get some sense of what the Virgin, Utah course looks like as you’re dropping in.

The footage that comes out of these tiny cameras is incredible, and makes Rampage look all the more impressive. Hop on board with Andreu Lacondeguy, Graham Agassiz, and more as they roll steep lines and huge drops in the desert.