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The worlds best Freestyle Motocross riders descended on the Dionyssos Marble Quarry in Athens, Greece for Stop 2 of the 2015 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour. Thousands of screaming fans were treated to a night of some of the best FMX action ever seen in the tour.
In the end it was Clinton Moore and Tom Pages who advanced to the final and went head to head for the win. Pages made a mistake going down on his Bike Flip but got up and still manages to put down an incredible run. Ultimately his crash effected the outcome and saw the win go to Moore, who’s run was insane and filled with huge stocks which he stomped perfectly. Rob Adelberg rounded off the podium in 3rd.
Red Bull X-Fighters Athens Results and Rider Quotes:
1st Clinton Moore is the man to beat this year. He is keeping his nerves together and constantly delivered runs with the most difficult tricks, even premiering the Volt-to-Nohand-Lander in the finals. “I had a lot of pressure and my run was gnarly, but the other guys had a lot more pressure on themselves. I knew what I can do and it paid off. But to take my second win is unbelievable. Honestly, coming here with Josh Sheehan being back and Tom Pagès bringing his new trick, I would have been happy with a podium. My gameplan will not change for Madrid: to stay focused and not put pressure on me.”
2nd Tom Pages set the world on fire by not only stomping the first ever Alley-Oop Flair in a competition, but also adding the Bike Flip, a Flair off a dirt takeoff, a Special Flip and more insane tricks into one single run. A crash in the final on his first jump kept him from the win, even though he continued his run. “It was a difficult event after my two crashes on the Alley-Oop Flair in the qualification and I was not sure if I could land it. But today went really good, but then I made a mistake on the Bike Flip in the finals. Actually I wanted to show even more new tricks, but will bring them to Madrid hopefully.”
3rd Rob Adelberg celebrated his return to the tour with a podium spot, backing up his third place from the qualification. “I came here confident and fit and brought my California Roll, that I was working on. I am blown away that I got third with such a high level of riding going on tonight. I am working on a new trick, I have a month until Madrid now, so I will knuckle down, work on it and hopefully we will see me stomping it in Madrid!”
4th David Rinaldo impressed with very technical tricks like the California Roll, Volt, Doublegrab Flip, Onehand Takeoff to Indy Seatgrab Flip and a big variety while always being in control. „It was a bit stressful for me, because I wanted to show my new tricks. Now I am proud of myself and pretty happy, this is my best result so far at Red Bull X-Fighters.“
5th Josh Sheehan showed a quarterfinal run that would probably have beaten anyone anywhere, anyone but Tom Pagès with his crazy and innovative trick arsenal. So the reigning world tour champion and winner of the Athens qualification had to pack his bags after the quarters. “I was very happy with my run and did it the best I could do it. The qualification was a funny situation and I was wondering if I should aim for the number one spot or settle with less. Now I can say it would have been better to hold back a bit so I would not meet Tom so early. The level of riding is so high, I will continue to work harder and bring some more new stuff.”
6th Dany Torres had a close battle against Rob Adelberg, barely missing to advance into the semi finals. “This week was amazing and it was very special to ride in this special place. I just did a little mistake, but was happy with my run. Now it is time to spend time in my foampit at home to bring a new trick for Madrid.”
7th Adam Jones was unhappy after losing the quarter final against Rob Adelberg. “I am happy about my run and felt great, probably the best I could have done. Me and Rob were close and Rob had a good run, I have a lot of respect for him but I think I should have won that. I am a little upset about the judging, but what can I do?”
8th Levi Sherwood had a difficult quarterfinal against later winner Clinton Moore due to his bad luck in the qualification and had to call it a night early on. He showed the Superman Egg Roll as his newest trick. “I had a hard time in the qualifiers yesterday but went out and did what I wanted, Clinton just got the better end of me. The riding level here was huge! I am disappointed that I did not advance to the next round, but that’s it.”
9th Remi Bizouard just missed advancing to the quarter finals by 0.2 points. „I learned a lot this week. It was hard for me to find the right line and I could not show all my tricks, but I only can blame that on me. I was close to advance to the next round, but Tom did amazing tricks while I felt I was riding on a basic level, so it is okay that he went on. I am looking forward to the next event already.“
10th Javier Villegas entered the main competition in spite of a hard crash in the qualification. “It could have been worse. I am disappointed that I did not make it to the quarter finals, but I am happy that I am not injured badly. This just motivates me to practice some more.”11th Nick Franklin filled in for the injured Maikel Melero and received the invitation just a few days before the event. “I just had one day of practice after I got the invitation. I am super happy that I got invited and the Red Bull X-Fighters see me on a level that I am good enough to come here. I am happy with my run and did myself proud.”
12th Chris Meyer put his name on the landscape with an energetic and spectacular run after getting the invite on tuesday evening replacing the injured Taka Higashino. “I am really happy about the invitation and my riding, but not happy about the judging. I hope I can also go to Red Bull X-Fighters in Madrid and do much better.”
Red Bull X-Fighters Athens Highlights Video:
Stop 3 of the World Tour takes place n Madrid, Spain on the 10th July before heading to Pretoria, South Africa for Stop 4 on the 12th September.Tickets for the South African stop are on sale now from Computicket here.
Photos by Predrag Vuckovic, Armin Walcher and Flo Hagena | Red Bull Content Pool
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