Madrid Gets Ready for Nissan Qashqai Challenge

If you’re a fan of BMX Dirt, you may want to carve out some time this weekend to check out the second stop of the Nissan Qashqai Challenge — a four-stop tour featuring mountain bikers hitting dirt courses in urban settings.  The first stop happened last weekend in Milan, Italy, and the tour continues in Munich on May 11 before concluding in London on the 24th of May.

You can find out everything you’d ever want to know about the tour in the following press release, or visit the official site.  If after all of that you’re still up to watch, then check out Freecaster for the live webcast.

Nissan Qashqai Challenge:
Madrid course and rider line-up

Madrid, April 30th, 2008: Only 2 days until the Madrid stop of the 2008 Nissan Qashqai Challenge. On Monday 50 truck loads of dirt was delivered to the front of the Bernabeu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid. A few days later it is an amazing dirt jump course, ready for the best riders in the world. The stage is set for an incredible contest to determine the final 5 riders in the biggest freeride series of the year.

The dirt is very good and the rider’s response to the new course is very positive. From the 6 meter high start ramp, the first double is followed by a berm and a roller, into a step-up, onto a curved wood feature ending with a step-down, back into a beautifully shaped four pack of dirt jumps. The course flows well and will showcase the diverse skills of this very deep international field of riders.

Madrid is a two-day event, practice starts on Friday as well as the first qualifying run. The second qualifying and the finals are Saturday afternoon. The tour is heating up and the riders will be giving everything they have to be one of the top 5 finishers to qualify for the final two events. In the two final Nissan Qashqai Challenge events, the world’s best 25 riders will compete in Munich and London for the overall title and the sport’s biggest prize purse.

The Madrid rider line-up is:

Andi Brewi AUT
Niki Leitner AUT
Geoff Gullevich CAN
Kurtis Sorge CAN
Mitchell Chubey CAN
Andreu Lacondeguy ESP
David Acedo ESP
Victor Esplugas ESP
Inigo Yanci Larralde ESP
Pau Martin Miller ESP
Marc Casals Casoliva ESP
Angel Vivanco ESP
Rodrigo Velasco Ubeda ESP
Amir Kabbani GER
Andi Wittmann GER
Benny Korthaus GER
Flo Konietzko GER
Simon Kirchmann GER
Taulan Dernbach GER
Bartek Obukowicz POL
Maciek’s Ryndziewicz POL
Pedro Marrero Puerto Rico
Igor Putera SLO
Anton Gustavson SWE
John Alm Högmann SWE
Linus Sjöholm SWE
Martin Söderström SWE
Blake Samson UK
Lance McDermott UK
Mike Smith UK
Sam Reynolds UK
Adam Hauck USA
Alex Reveles USA
Andrew Taylor USA
Cameron Zink USA
Greg Watts USA
Kyle Strait USA
Phil Sundbaum USA
Ryan Howard USA
Tyler Mc Caul USA

General admission to all the Nissan Qashqai Challenge events is free. If you are not able to make it to the event, you can watch the competition LIVE on Freecaster at: http://www.freecaster.com/live/1000187_1004403

You can also get the pictures, video, and results at:
http://www.nissan.co.uk/home/modules/qashqaichallenge/index.html?ln=/en_GB