X Games Sets Stage for Portland Dew Tour

Shaun White is still searching for his first skate win following his back-to-back Olympic glory in snowboarding. But now with X Games gold out of reach for yet another year, his focus will be on the Dew Tour after Pierre Luc Gagnon took the vert win at last weekend’s X Games.  

The win could have gone to either guy, and the ever-competitive White wasn’t happy about being the first loser and even bypassed the best trick event that followed vert finals at X Games 16.

 

Shaun White                                                                             Pierre Luc Gagnon

It goes without saying that White will be looking to unseat PLG at next week’s Wendy’s Invitational, his first Dew Tour event back after his return to June’s season-opener in Boston was put on hold due to an ankle injury.

Spinning and going big are crucial in vert, but without some of the technical tricks that PLG has on lockdown, it will be hard to interrupt the winning-spree he’s got going on right now. This was his third-consecutive X Games gold, and he’s leading the Dew Tour standings in vert after his win at the Skate Open in Boston.

Rodolfo Ramos

Brazilian 15-year-old wonder boy Pedro Barros, who’s new to the Dew Tour this season, just earned his first X Games gold with a win in park. At the Skate Open he advanced straight to the finals from the open qualifiers and finished just shy of the podium in fourth. He’s qualified for the Tour now and with one event in the bag, he’ll be primed to bump things up a notch to podium in Portland. He says his focus is pool skating, but looks like vert trophies are the horizon as well.

Second to Pedro at X Games park was Andy Macdonald, a staple of Dew Tour vert and a rider who’s been competing in X Games as long as it’s been around. Andy Mac was unstoppable last weekend, and even the pad police couldn’t overlook his insane lines through the concrete park course. He’ll be heading into next week’s Portland event, looking to improve upon his third-place finish in Boston.

 

Pedro Barros                                                                               Andy Macdonald

The Big Air win at X Games went to Jake Brown, the most famous man to fall from the sky and miraculously walk away. Guess after this win those days are truly behind him. And the usual Bob Burnquist battle for Big Air finished with him in second place. Noticeably absent from the finals was Danny Way, who pulled out of both the Big Air and Rail Jam.

In X Games street, Ryan Sheckler took the gold, after finishing the Dew Tour opener in second, and saying from the podium that he needed to go home and practice. It certainly showed at X Games. Let’s see if practice pays off in Portland as well. Nyjah Huston finished X Games street in second, and word is he may be making an appearance on the Dew Tour later this season. In fact, the top-five street skaters from X Games are the latest crop of Dew Tour guys to keep an eye on this season.

Rune Glifberg

Ryan Decenzo was third in street, and finished 12^th at the Skate Open in Boston. But he’s got a year of Dew Tour experience to draw on for next week’s Wendy’s Invitational. Former Dew Cup champ Chaz Ortiz was fourth at X Games street, third at Dew Tour, and he’ll be looking to make a return to the top of the podium when next week’s Dew Tour rolls around.

Sierra Fellers was fifth in X Games street, and he really made his mark at the Dew Tour season-opener after advancing all the way from open qualifiers to the Finals, where he finished sixth and earned a spot on the Tour for the season.

Sierra Fellers

To see how it all pans out in Portland, check out the event info here, or get tickets here. The Wendy’s Invitational is from August 12-15 at Portland’s Rose Quarter.