Simon Tabron Claims Top Spot in BMX Vert Prelims

The BMX vert prelims included a mix of old-school tricks, like the fufanu by Brian Hunt, and modern ones, like Coco Zurita’s triple tailwhip, giving fans a great preview of what Friday’s finals hold in store.

Simon Tabron was one of the earliest riders to drop into the vert ramp during the competition and his first run included what announcer Catfish described as “technical wizardry on a vert ramp.” Tabron held onto the lead for the duration of the prelims, and the Englishman advanced as the top qualifier.

Simon Tabron No-Hander

Each rider in the first heat produced solid runs, and it seemed like many of them had a shot to make it into finals once a lot of the riders in heat two failed to complete their runs the first time through the start order.

But when the final runs came around for the second heat, the athletes responded to the pressure. Zack Warden landed a bikeflip to finish in sixth place and advance to the finals. Austin Coleman and Zurita both used their second runs to make it into the top seven in the standings as well.

Austin Coleman Double Downside Whip

Already sitting in second place, Vince Byron did his best to dethrone Tabron, and landed a 540 tailwhip and an invert flair but could not close the points gap and finished as the second qualifier.

The top seven from today’s prelims advance to face Jamie Bestwick, Chad Kagy and Steve McCann in the BMX vert finals, taking place Friday from 7-8pm.

Vince Byron Table

Results

1. Simon Tabron, 88.13
2. Vince Byron, 87.88
3. Austin Coleman, 87.13
4. Jimmy Walker, 86.75
5. Zack Warden, 86.63

For complete results from the competition, click here.

In addition to BMX vert finals taking place on Friday, the Wendy’s Invitational will also include skate park finals from 1-3pm and BMX park prelims, running from 4-6:30pm. Get your tickets here.