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European X Galleries

2001 Results

The world is flat. That´s what people thought until a Spaniard said otherwise. Now the only "flatlanders" are bike riders and today their world belongs to a Spaniard. Crowd favorite, from Madrid, Spain, Jorge Gomez took home the gold at the Flatland Stunt finals at the X Games Qualifier in Barcelona and an invitation to the 2001 Summer X Games in Philly. “I can’t believe it. It’s a dream for me to go to the X Games.” This will be Jorge's first X Games, but not his first attempt to qualify. “I was really nervous before I competed” Jorge said, referring to his seventh place finish in at the X Trials in Bristol but it was a different story here in Barcelona, “Competing in my own country I was more relaxed . . . because all of my friends are here.” Sounds like Jorge should book travel to Philly for himself and a posse of friends.

Spain native Jorge Gomez took first in Flatland in one of the most competitive comps we've seen in a X Games event.

Jorge’s style and consistency earned him the top spot. Martti Kouppa took second and while his tricks were more original and technically difficult, Jorge was smooth and consistent going seamlessly from one trick to the next. Martti Kouppa, the reigning X Games Gold medallist said this about the competition, “This was the first time [I’ve competed] in Spain and it was the hardest contest I’ve ever been to.” He also added this about his European competitors “They’re my good friends. We party together and ride together.”

Martti Kuoppa with one leg over the handle bars spinning for second place.

Picking up third was Phil Dolan of the UK who has already qualified for the X Games and nabbing the second invite available here in Barcelona to the X Games in Philly was Matti Rose from Lauterbach, Germany.

Click here for full results.

It’s not unusual to have a half a dozen countries represented in the ten finalists for a major flatland event in the states. This competition was no different in this respect. Only this time all of the countries were members of the European Union. Spain, Finland, rid England, Germany, France and Austria were all represented here.

The flatland competition changed location and was bumped up a day after the planned location proved a little “soft”. The planned location was on a raised platform on the beach a stone’s throw from the water. Unfortunately when riders began to ride platform their weight caused the surface to rise and sink into the sand slightly, making tricks too difficult. It was subsequently moved up to the pier where all other events at the X Games Qualifier, Barcelona are being held except wakeboarding.

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