The AST Dew Tour, the world’s premier season-long action sports tour, begins its third season on June 21-24 with the Panasonic Open at Baltimore’s Camden Yards Sports Complex. The five-city tour also includes stops in Cleveland, Portland, Salt Lake City and Orlando.
More than 260 professional action sports athletes from around the world including skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, BMX athlete Jamie Bestwick, and FMX competitor Nate Adams-will return to compete for the Dew Cup, awarded at season’s end to the athlete with the highest number of points in each of the six disciplines: skateboarding, BMX, and freestyle motocross. The Tour’s 2006 season champions include Nate Adams (Freestyle Motocross), Jamie Bestwick (BMX Vert), Daniel Dhers (BMX Park), Anthony Napolitan (BMX Dirt), Bucky Lasek (Skateboard Vert) and Ryan Sheckler (Skateboard Park).
There are a number of athletes to watch on the third season of the AST Dew Tour – both veterans and a few new faces. Here’s a list of the ones to watch:
Skateboarding
· Bucky Lasek, native to Baltimore, Md. won his second consecutive Dew Tour title in Skateboard Vert last season. He is once again a favorite to repeat as champion looking ahead in 2007.
· Ryan Sheckler of San Clemente, Calif. captured his second tour title in Skateboard Park last season. After severely burning his foot in July of last year, Sheckler came back to win the next two tour events en route to the Dew Cup trophy.
· Jereme Rogers of Boston, Mass. finished second overall in Skateboard Park last year and was also named 2006 Rookie of the Year by TransWorld.
BMX
· Anthony Napolitan, the Cinderella story of last season, will look to repeat as champion in BMX Dirt competition. Napolitan who finished the 2005 season in last place, made the improbable jump to Dew Tour champion in 2006.
· Jamie Bestwick of Nottingham, GBR came back from neck surgery to win his second Dew Cup is as many years in BMX Vert. He also collected 2006 Athlete of the Year honors and will look to retain both titles in 2007.
· 2006 BMX Park champion Daniel Dhers of Caracas, VEN will look to continue where he left off last year, recording two event wins en route to the season title in his rookie year on tour.
· Jackson, N.J. native Scotty Cranmer, finished in second place overall for the second consecutive year in BMX Park and will look to win his first Dew Cup trophy in 2007.
· Mike Spinner of Oceanside, N.Y. has already made history in BMX Park competition completing the first 720 tailwhip at the Free Flow Tour championship last season. Spinner will be a rookie on the Dew Tour this season and could turn quite a few heads.
FMX
· Jeremy Stenberg of Winchester, Calif. will look to bounce back after suffering two broken legs during the 2006 season. Stenberg, who placed second in 2005, looks to regain his dominance in the sport and capture the Dew Tour title.
· Nate Adams of Glendale, Ariz. returned to action after an injury-ridden 2005 season to capture the 2006 FMX Dew Cup. Adams will try to make it back-to-back titles in 2007.
· Mike Mason of Minden, Nev. finished as the runner-up to Adams last season and will look to overtake him during the 2007 Dew Tour season.
Entering its third year, the AST Dew Tour is the most watched and attended action sports contest in the world. Attendance for the 2006 AST Dew Tour totaled nearly 250,000 and an average of 38 million viewers tuned in via NBC and USA each year. The top athletes in the world will take part in this year’s Tour, all competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup which will be awarded in Orlando at season’s end to champions in each of the six disciplines. The 2006 Dew Cup winners include Nate Adams (Freestyle Motocross), Jamie Bestwick (BMX Vert), Anthony Napolitan (BMX Dirt), Daniel Dhers (BMX Park), Bucky Lasek (Skateboard Vert) and Ryan Sheckler (Skateboard Park).
