Over een paar dagen is het zover, de RedBull King Of The Air is weer terug!
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The King Of The Air is an invitational event. This means, only riders invited by Red Bull can compete. Red Bull decided to bring back the best 12 riders of last years King Of The Air. In addition to these 12 riders, four wildcards were given out and 8 spots was open for public entries (through an online application process on the Red Bull website).
In today’s post we introduce the four wildcard entries:
Aaron Hadlow
Well who doesn’t know Aaron Hadlow? 5x World Champion, owner of Hadlow-kites. We’re sure you heard of the guy. Besides the fact that he’s no doubt one of the best kiteboarders world-wide, he’s a Cape Town local. He owns a residence in Table View, and Big Bay is basically his home-spot. Unfortunately, he has injured his knee just before the Len10 Megaloop Challenge in 2011, this injury still kept him from competing in last years’ King Of The Air. But, the champ is back! We can’t wait to see what happens when Hadlow gets all over an extreme event like that. Our prediction: Hadlow has a good chance winning. If not the title, Top3 guaranteed.
For more info about Aaron Hadlow, check out his website and follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
Alex Pastor
We have just received the news that Alex Pastor will not be competing at the King Of The Air 2014. Don’t worry we’re getting a great substitution…
Luke McGillewie
As a substitute for Alex Pastor, Red Bull has invited local shredder Luke McGillewie. Although he’s riding strapless in the waves almost all the time (literally all the time), we’re sure he’s capable to kick some ass at the King Of The Air. Who knows he might even rock up with his strapless surfboard and still win a few heats. Luke is quite a competitor. He rides and reigns the local wave-competitions, and competed successful at several events on the KSP (Kite Surf Pro). Our prediction: We haven’t seen Luke on a Twin-Tip in a while, he still has a few days to get back in the flow. If he gets in his zone he will be hard to beat. Follow Luke on Facebook or Twitter to stay up-to-date or connect with him..
Reno Romeu
Reno was already invited last year, but has not been too lucky in the event. Knowing the Brazilians’ potential Red Bull invited him over to Cape Town again. Reno has been Junior World-Champion back in 2005, and he competes on the world-tours ever since. Although he is a great kitesurfer, he might struggle to beat the guys who train in Cape Town every year. Our prediction: Romeu will make it comfortable through the first few rounds, we’ll see what he makes of the Cape Town crew in the later rounds. Check out Reno Romeu’s website for more information, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Linus Erdmann
Linus who? A quick Goole-search later, we figured he’s a 17 year old German rider, and he’s supposed to be real talented. Awesome! He’s sponsored by Slingshot, and he is the German Junior Champion 2013, a title which he secured by with #1 rankings on every event on the tour. We have no idea how he copes, or will cope with the harsh conditions of Cape Town. But we’re surely exited to see what ze Germans bring into the King Of The Air. There’s not much of a prediction we can give here, after all we had to ask Google who the guy even is. But hey, why not predict the surprise of the event: He’s knocking out at least 3 favourites. If you are as puzzled as us who’s Linus, you can even save yourself the Google search: Go directly to his website or his official Facebook-page.
Keep up-to-date with this blog, sign in for our mailing list. There’s 5 more posts coming up introducing the rest of the riders. So long, share your thoughts in the comments, whatever they may be. Did you think our predictions are rubbish? Did we miss any important information about a rider? Do you or don’t you like our blog? Tell us! That’s what comments are for…
*pictures taken from athletes Facebook pages