For years, the German Kathi Kuypers was the only woman when a slopestyle or big air contest took place somewhere - usually as the lead rider or in the men's classification. But at Cycle Week 2022, or more precisely the Züri Dirt Contest, she was jubilant: "Can you imagine that? Four girls in one contest!" According to spokesperson Chris Räber, it was the first time ever that women had competed in their own category in an event of the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour. On top of that, the female riders on the podium received the same prize money as the men. The 15-year-old Patricia Druwen really earned her cheque with her backflip and barspin variations ahead of Sweden's Alma Wiggberg, who was allegedly the first to land a 360 in a competition. The whole competition, including that of the men, can be seen here in the video.

On the same weekend, a group of twelve female mountain bikers made their grand entrance in the Utah desert. Red Bull Formation is the name of the format in which the women can approach the dimensions and style of the Red Bull Rampage. This is where the best freeriders in the world held their Rampage in 2014 and 2015. Like the men, the women spent a few days shoveling their lines, training and then showing off what they had learned. Watching them do this takes almost as much nerve as watching the men, such as the fall line of Argentinian Cami Nogueira, who won the competition. The reservations against the Rampage can, of course, also be made against Formation. But if women want to jump highly dangerous stunts and control their bikes at the limit, then they are allowed to do so. In most cases, they looked pretty controlled doing it. Here's the event highlights.