By press release:
BMX Freestyle World championships Prague, Czech Republic (June 2nd – 5th, 2005). Long time Felt World Team member, twenty-eight year old Michael Sommer from Vienna, Austria placed 1st at this year’s Flatland contest at the IBMXFF Nokia BMX Freestyle World championships in Prague.
Sommer, who is also known for his record-spinning skills as DJ AmTrak had won the “Best Trick Comboâ€? challenge at the World’s in 2004 just to take the next step in his career and win the main contest this year.
The weekend before, he had finished third in a high-class contest in Greece, with only Michael Steingräber and Martti Kuoppa ahead of him. With this success in mind, he had traveled to Prague looking forward to the contest.
The Pro Flatland contest qualification took place on Saturday, June 4th with the 47 best Flatland athletes from France, Finland, Spain, Japan, USA, Germany and other countries. Michael was able to qualify as one of the twelve finalists. Third place in qualification let him start as the third from last in the final, with only Viki Gomez (ES) and Matt Wilhelm (USA) to follow. But before, top contenders like Alex Jumelin, Nathan Penonzek, Martti Kuoppa, Frank Lukas and the reigning world champion Ryoji Yamamoto had their runs.
Finally Mr. Sommer rolled onto the floor and finished his run with all combos neat and clear and the crowd in Prague went crazy. Viki Gomez also had a great run while Matt Wilhelm couldn’t stand up to the pressure and failed to answer Sommer´s and Gomez great performances. So it was either Michael Sommer or Viki Gomez and when it was announced that he had won, the Austrian was overwhelmed. When talking to the
European Felt World Team Manager Bodo Hellwig a little later, he was speechless:
“Hey, I don’t know what to say...this is so great, I truly can’t believe this is happening!â€?
Everyone at Felt Bicycles is very proud of Michael, who not only rides for Felt but also delivers valuable feedback and ideas for Product Development. We would like to congratulate him and thank him for the support of the brand.
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About Felt Racing, LLC
Felt is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of its own propriety branded premium quality bicycles, framesets, parts and components. It is located in Lake Forest, California, with additional offices in Edewecht, Germany. Felt is an internationally recognized brand whose bicycles and products are currently sold in 30 countries worldwide. Athletes on Felt products have won numerous National and International events including World Championship and international competitions. For more information on Felt call (949) 452-9050 or log on to www.feltracing.com or www.feltbmx.com