Dave Watson jumps over Tour de France

[Sombeech]

Dave Watson jumps OVER the Tour de France race. Ha ha, too bad he couldn't land it.

Shuntavi has a poster of this jump hanging in his shop.

[Ross]

Dave Watson

That was in NWD or Kranked, don't remember which.

He landed a practice jump I think, not over the peloton.

Pretty ballsy stuff.

[derstuka]

yeah, that was sweet. I remember when it happened. Ross is right, it is Dave Watson. Here is some more info as to why it didn't come out as planned. He could have easily landed it if he had different circumstances. He did jump over (behind) the peleton and never had a practice jump.

"DAVE WATSON TOUR DE FRANCE JUMPS LANDS HIM GUARDIAN ALTERNATIVE SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

For those of you who care about this kind of thing, Dave Watson was recently named the Guardian (UK) newspaper Alternative Sports Personality of the Year, knocking off English football (soccer) manager Ian Holloway and Tyler Hamilton who rode the Tour De France despite riding with a broken collarbone almost throughout the entire race.

Dave celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France with an historic jump, joined by photographer Scott Markewitz and Freeride Entertainment (makers of the New World Disorder series) over the tour peleton during the Alpe d'Huez stage of the tour. The jump took place just before the summit of the Col de Galibier. The set-up and preparation had to be done in secret, as the reaction of the fans and organizers was unknown. Showing up several days before hand, Dave with help from some staff at Big Bike, a French based Freeride magazine, built the jump and cleared the landing before many fans showed up.

With three 16mm cameras rolling to catch the action and Scott Markewitz shooting stills tension was high as the helicopters appeared on the horizon marking the arrival of the lead group. The amount of police and the mayhem created by the fans on the take-off and landing meant that jumping the lead group was out of the question. With communication hardly possible due to the noise created by the fans, a group of about twelve riders was sighted in the distance and the jump was on. Frantic preparations were made to clear the landing of spectators and take-off jump.

Dave patiently waited as the riders rounded the corner. Prior to the jump, Dave had not even had a chance to take a run in to the jump for fear of giving away our intentions. Jump time came and Dave climbed aboard his Stab Primo and punched it toward the lip with no hesitation.

Jumping just over the back of the peleton as to take no chances of injuring riders on an unknown jump, Dave sailed approximately 45 ft before touching down. Due to a last minute brake check to ensure the safety of the riders below, Dave came up slightly short and was bucked by his bike into the rocky tranny. Fans rushed to Dave to see the extent of his injuries. Slightly dazed with paramedics and police surrounding him, the crew was unsure what the outcome would be.

Thankfully the end of this story is a happy one. The paramedics insisted on taking Dave on a two-hour ride out the mountains to the hospital and the police didn't seem to mind since the only person potentially hurt was Dave. Released from the hospital with a partially separated shoulder, sore back, neck, and a severely bruised groin, Dave is back home in North Vancouver now and will recover fully.

The photo by Scott Markewitz and story on the jump was published in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Reproduction of the photo for commercial purposes is not permitted. The film segment is one of many Kona highlights in New World Disorder IV - Ride the Lightning, scheduled for release in October 2003."

[Sombeech]

crap, where'd I get Ryan from?