The 2006 Dew Action Sports Tour is officially a wrap. The BMX events brought lots of surprises, a host of new tricks, and plenty of action over the course of the five stops, and now the athletes will head back home, eager to work on new moves for the next Tour.

In Vert, Jamie Bestwick repeated his Dew Cup title, winning four stops just as he had done last year. 2006 saw a huge jump in Chad Kagy's performance, however. He was close behind Bestwick all year, letting loose with new tricks left and right. His flatspin variations were always crowd pleasers, and two new superman seatgrab variations kept him high in the standings. One of the biggest moves of the year came courtesy of Kevin Robinson; he dropped in after everyones runs at the Toyota Challenge in San Jose and floated a perfect double flair, which he landed this year for the very first time. Keith McElhinney made his own first-time contribution at the Right Guard Open in Denver with a frontflip flair, sending the crowd and all the riders in attendance into a frenzy. Dew Tour Vert riders definitely brought the heat this year; theres no telling what theyll be packing in '07.

On the Dirt course, many were expecting riders like Ryan Guettler, Corey Bohan, or Ryan Nyquist to dominate this year, but a little-known rookie by the name of Anthony Napolitan started the Tour off with a bang by winning the Panasonic Open in Louisville. He stayed high in the standings for the remainder of the tour, walking away with the Dew Cup in Orlando. Guettler suffered a brutal crash in Qualifiers at the Panasonic Open, but regained his confidence as the year progressed, scoring the win in San Jose.

Cameron White landed a triple tailwhip and took the win in Portland, while Nyquist pulled his first barspin 720 in competition in Denver. Colin Mackay added the same trick to his arsenal in Orlando, and newcomers TJ Ellis and Michael Hucker Clark both pulled double backflips on the Tour. Dirt is anyones game, a fact Napolitan proved this year. Well have to see who comes out of the woodwork gunning for the title next year.

The Park series brought out another unknown in the form of Venezuelas Daniel Dhers. Dhers started making waves in the States late last year, but he hadnt been here early enough to compete in the Open Qualifiers so this was his first crack at the Dew Tour. His precise tailwhip variations propelled him to two victories, and he left the Tour with the Dew Cup in his hands. He capped off his year with a frontflip over the spine, prompting Dew Cup winners Bestwick and Napolitan to run out on the course to congratulate him. Scotty Cranmer, who picked up two wins as well, kept the pressure on Dhers, but he suffered a nasty crash in Orlando that took him out of the running for the Cup. Nyquist was also a threat in Park, shooting huge transfers on every course the Dew Tour crew created, but ran into some bad luck in Orlando that pulled the title from his hands. Mike Spinner floored everybody when he pulled a tailwhip 720 at the Free Flow Tour amateur finals, then took the top qualifying spot against the pros in Orlando. Dave Mirra returned in Orlando after injuring himself and missing two stops, and he made his comeback count with two new tricks: a tailwhip to one-handed one-footed backflip, and a no-handed 360 flip. Park was ultra-competitive, and next year will bring a clean slate; youd be hard pressed to find anyone willing to make any predictions for the 2007 season, unless its just to say that it will be out of hand.

The Dew Tours five-stop, cumulative points format brought out the best in every BMX rider involved. We needed this for a while, says Bestwick. Its been a great opportunity to have riders take part in a five-stop tour. It ends up being a prestigious title. Everybody comes here because they want to be the Dew Tour champion. If you missed any of the action this year, you missed out big time. Make sure you follow the Dew Tour next year to see what the worlds best BMX riders dish out.