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A broken arm didn't stop Mark Webb from claiming his third Braun cruZer Tour championship at the final round at the Suzuki BMX Masters in Cologne, Germany. Thousands of partisan spectators from across Europe watched the Braun Mini Ramp's last outing for 2007 and their enthusiastic support inspired the riders to new heights. Webb was displaying the awesome class that won him the 2005 and 06 Braun cruZer Tours, but crashed heavily halfway through his second run and immediately knew he had snapped his forearm. "My arm is broken," he announced from the bottom of the ramp. "Tell someone it's snapped!" However, his trick-laden first run on the Braun cruZer Mini Spine was enough to earn him third place on the day.

Ben Wallace (GBR) won the leg, nailing a Tailwhip to tap on the spine and picking up enough points to tie him with Webb on the 

This is a difficult E Mail to write but we want you know the facts. First of all, let us say that Stephen's condition is continuing to improve. Thursday morning started early with a sensation examination by the neurosurgeon. This was a high point as Stephen showed more signs of sensation in his upper arms, and at various places from his buttocks to his toes. Then came the transfer to Denver. At this point we don't know all the facts but this is what we do know. After being prepared for the journey Stephen was happy to be leaving the Shock Trauma unit and there were smiles all round. He was tranferred onto a portable ventilator and taken by stretcher to the Ambulance. Five minutes from the Airport his heart rate started to drop and then briefly stopped.

The BMX Masters is a huge event. It has expert classes, master classes and pro classes. And then they've got flatland, vert, street, mini and dirt. Some of them are pro-only but you get the feeling that there is some riding to take care of in one weekend. With rain on Friday that didn't help the situation but with a little improvising there's always a way to get it done. And they did.

Fourteen riders showed up to ride the vert ramp at the Suzuki BMX Masters. Not a whole lot but for a vert competition these days it was quite a turnout. The vert discipline is still one of the favorites for the crowd, especially when Mat Hoffman and Simon Tabron drop in. The two are living (vert) legends and the chance to see them ride in the flesh needs to be taken. A lot of people did, which was a good way to end the 2007 Masters.

Daniel Dhers decided to join the fun and entered his first vert contest ever. After a second place on mini and a first in street, Daniel had nothing to lose and just rolled in for the fun of it. His type of fun doesn't end with X-up airs though. He did whips, double whips, MX airs, no-handers and flairs and ended his runs with a couple of X-ups, some in alley-oop mode. Daniel qualified in third but ended up in fourth in the finals. Still, not bad considering it was his first real halfpipe competition.

On Friday before the contest fellow jump builder Benny Paulsen estimated a 10 rider field for dirt. The set up was gnarly and people who had entered (48 pro riders) did not have much time to get used to the course. Making it to the end of the course wasn't easy but when it mattered, 33 riders rode, which was a decent number. Respect to all who had the balls to drop in from that 5 meter high platform and made it to the last set.

There have been talks about this year's dirt course. After weeks of building and dealing with a lot of rain, only Marcus Hampl had made it through the complete set on Friday 13 July. The field of 48 riders will be cut quickly as most riders simply can't handle the terrain. The straight final (with whoever wants to ride) will be on Sunday afternoon. The course starts with a 5 meter high platform where the riders get speed to jump into a 2,30 meter landing followed by a 5 meter hipper to the right and some mighty sets.

After qualifying in first, Hungarian Adam Kun couldn't put it together in the finals. Justin Miller however did. The KHE/adidas rider from the USA took on the rest of the world in the well attended flatland tent at the BMX Masters in Cologne, Germany.  Michael Sommer from Austria (still the current pro flatland world champ) finished second with UK's Sam Foakes in third. It can go either direction in pro flatland and this is the way the final results came out at the 2007 BMX Masters:

PRO FLATLAND FINAL RESULTS:
1. JUSTIN MILLER (USA)
2. MICHAEL SOMMER (AUS)
3. SAM FOAKES (ENG)
4. SHINTARO MISAWA (JAP)
5. WALDEMAR FATKIN (GER)
6. MATTHIAS DANDOIS (FRA)
7. RAPHAEL CHIQUET (FRA) 

14 riders climbed on top of the vert ramp in Cologne for the Pro halfpipe contest. Among those riders legend Mat Hoffman. He had not ridden proper vert in over 6 months due to a knee injury and was a bit out of shape but as soon as the HDT shirt was on his shoulders he got his wings back and fired out trick after trick. In practice he dislocated his toe (I'd never heard of that one) and simply taped two toes together with some duct-tape so he could ride. His pads and shoes had not made it (lost by the airlines) so he was 

It was packed at in Cologne as soon as the Street/Park qualifiers started. The sun had come out in Koellefornia and it's always a good scene with the crowd surrounding the course. Mark Webb qualified in first but won't be able to ride the finals because of a broken arm. This moved Joris Coulomb from France into the 12 rider final cut and makes Jason Phelan from Ireland the first reserve in case someone else gets injured. Other finalitsts are: Ryan Elcock, Louis Smith, Maxime Cherveron, Leon Perkins, Kevin Kalkhoff, Allan Cooke, Ben Wallace and Alessandro Barbero.

It was a no-holes-barred final stage for the Braun cruZer Tour at the Suzuki BMX Masters in Cologne, Germany, but defending champion and series leader Mark Webb crashed out on his final run. Webb, who has won the two previous legs of the Tour and was champion in 2005 and 2006, was on his best form. He had already pulled out a Tailwhip to the sub-box and was flying across the ramp but fell heavily after misjudging a relatively simple trick. He knew immediately what had happened. “My arm is broken,” he announced from the ramp. “Tell someone it’s snapped!” Before being lead away by medics he proudly displayed the bone that was bulging out of his forearm to the crowd to massive applause.

It was left to Daniel Dhers (VEN) and Ben Wallace (GBR) to finish their runs and they didn’t disappoint the enormous and enthusiastic crowd. Dhers knocked out huge Alleyoop Flairs before nailing a No-Handed Flair and a Double Tailwhip over the spine.