Watch backflip over the peloton on a road bike
Polish freeride mountain biker Szymon Godziek flipped over the final stage of the Tour de Pologne
On the final stage of the 2017 Tour de Pologne, Polish freeride mountain biker Szymon Godziek backflipped over the peloton on a road bike. It was a truly impressive stunt.
Godziek and his team had built a ramp in preparation for attempt. As the peloton raced along the roads around Bukowina Tarzańska where the final stage of the race was taking place, he timed his trick to perfection. The riders in the peloton appear to not have been disturbed by the trick with only a few even noticing there was someone airborne above their heads.
Godziek was on a road bike and decked out in Lycra to perform the trick early in the stage on Friday. RedBull say that the stunt is a world first as previous stunt man who have soared over the peloton have all been on mountain bikes. Preparation for the stunt was coordinated with the race organizers. They built a kicker to get airborne and a landing site ahead of the stage. Performing the trick on a road bike presented it’s challenges for the talents freerider.
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“The difference between my dirt bike and a road bike is huge. The tires are thin, the handlebars are much narrower, the frame geometry is totally different and, of course, the weight – a road bike is much lighter and acts differently in mid-air,” Godziek explained after successfully landing the backflip.
“For me, the biggest challenge was to get familiar with the specifics of riding on that kind of bike. I had practised the jump itself numerous times, so it wasn’t difficult for me, and I felt great on the road bike,” he explained.
The fact that he performed the stunt make it standout. Dave Watson and Romain Marandet have both jumped over the peloton of the Tour de France but on mountain bikes.
“The fact that I was the first one in the world to perform a jump like that means a lot to me. I’m glad that it happened in Poland at the final stage of the Tour de Pologne,” Godziek said.
