Shooting to tack another win onto his three-in-a-row streak on the 07 Tour, Shaun White dropped a huge first round run that looked like a winner in todays Toyota Challenge. Its hard to imagine that a flawless 45-second run featuring a 720, a stalefish rodeo 540, a frontside lipslide on the extension, and all kinds of technical flip tricks might not stand up, but there it is: Its 2007 and largely because of how much White has upped the ante skateboard progression is out of control.

Bucky Lasek was the first to knock White down a notch. The two-time defending Dew Tour champion has struggled through his recovery from knee surgery this year but was skating at full strength today. Lasek nailed a solid second run with four super-technical flip tricks in a run that also included lofty spins like a nosebone frontside 540, moving into second place.

White had falls in each of his next two runs, leaving room for 1st place qualifier Pierre-Luc Gagnon to make his move.

Gagnon had a streak of his own coming into the Toyota Challenge here in Salt Lake City, winning three major pro contests outside of the Dew Tour in the last month since he faced White at the Vans Invitational in Portland. While the other riders talked about their respect for White and the extent to which he has pushed all of the riders, Gagnon was more blunt making it known that he was determined to get the win and disrupt Whites streak.

My dream is that there will be a perfect contest, where everybody nails their best run and then we see where the pieces fall with the judges, Gagnon said yesterday, boasting that his best run could hold up against Whites best work. Today he got his wish; finding a perfect run with a massive 720 in answer to one of Whites signature tricks, as well as incredibly technical switch tricks, flip tricks, and big spins like a nosebone Indy 540 and a mute to fakie 360.

The victory in Salt Lake was sweet for Gagnon, but not enough to prevent White from claiming his first Dew Cup as the overall champion of this Tour. White now has 363 points in the overall standings, enough to put him out of reach next month in Orlando. PLG moved into 2nd place in the standings today, bumping Bob Burnquist down to 3rd place.

White will join Skate Park star Ryan Sheckler and FMX rider Nate Adams on the Dew Cup podium next month in Orlando at the PlayStation® Pro. The BMX Vert, Dirt, and Park contests are much closer, and will be decided next month.

Its good to see Shaun White so focused on skateboarding this year, and the energy he brings to everything here is really positive and really exciting, said Burnquist. Hes definitely earned my respect for what he has done. But he still has a lot to learn in skateboarding. To me, Pierre-Luc Gagnon is a way more complete skateboarder. Bucky Lasek is a way more complete skateboarder. He really does bring some elements that nobody else has, and Im really looking forward to seeing how much more he will push everything.