Vans Shop Riot Finals 2019 gallery

This year’s Vans Shop Riot finals at Amsterdam’s Skatepark Noord kicked off with a cash-for-tricks mini-ramp jam on Friday evening, with Simon Karlsson and Robin Bolian raising the biggest cheers, before everyone made their way over to the Klaproos restaurant for pizza, a Jacob Ovgren (of Polar Skate Co. graphic fame) art show and ping pong. With the exception of a dislocated elbow, the finals on Saturday went smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, particularly Holland’s Burnside team and their enthusiastic supporters. One thing we particularly enjoyed was the Red Arrows-approach Israel’s Gilis team employed, following each other around the course in formation, skating the same obstacle back-to-back. In the end, the Venero (Spain) team’s technical mastery earned them first place with Belgium’s Skate Boutique taking second and Burnside third. The day ended with a hectic, open-to-all best trick competition before an after-party – and Toy Machine Programming Injection premiere – at Sexyland. Thank you Vans for a fun weekend

Photography: Veldman & Kingsford