|  Battersea Power Station in London is better know as the host of inflatable pigs, the site of several failed business ventures of varying degrees of eccentricity and one of the most readily identified landmarks on the London skyline. Perhaps it's a sign of LOndon't newly bike-friendly approach to local government that the latest endeavour to take place there was entirely motorbike based. And, better yet, that it was promoted by the mad but fantastically talented Robbie Maddison jumping Tower Bridge and doing a loop on the way across.
Oh, and the venue sold out as well.
Twelve of the world’s best Freestyle Motocross
(FMX) riders electrified the former coal-fired power station at the grand finale of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour. X Fighters is like Supercross that you may have seen on TV or even for real - indoor, stadium based motocross with as much emphasis on hot dogging as on actually going fast and winning the race. Usually. Only for this there isn't a race. Just a series of ferocious obstacles to get over as quickly, and with as much style, as possible. Think Kickstart mixed with proper motocross and with the adition of an almost painful degree of coolness.
Going into the event, four riders
– Nate Adams (USA), Robbie Maddison (AUS), Eigo Sato (JPN) and Mat Rebeaud (SUI)
– were in with a chance of taking the overall title at the end of the night.
Local hero, Chris Birch kick-started London’s first ever event by getting the
18,000-strong crowd on their feet. However, in the end, Birch was no match for
Nate ‘The Destroyer’ Adams, who not only took the top spot at the London event
but also rode away with the coveted 2009 title after defeating 17-year-old Levi
Sherwood from New Zealand.
A fall on the course in front of the city’s
legendary power station chimneys forced defending champion Mat Rebeaud (SUI) to
abandon any chance of defending his crown. Swiss ruler and 2008 champion Rebeaud
was lucky to get away with bruises, a few stitches and a flat tyre after
over-rotating a trick in his Quarter-Final run.
 Overall standings - Red
Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2009:
1. Nate Adams (USA)
2. Robbie
Maddison (AUS)
3. Eigo Sato (JPN)
4. Mat Rebeaud (SUI)
5. Dany Torres
(ESP)
6. Levi Sherwood (NZL)
7. Jeremy Stenberg (USA)
8. Cameron
Sinclair (AUS)
9. Thomas Pagès (FRA)
10. André Villa (NOR)
Red
Bull X-Fighters is a high-energy spectacle in which riders combine power, skill,
showmanship and bravery to thrill the crowds. The World Tour now has a huge
international following since it began in 2001 with jumps and tricks getting
harder, higher and longer every year – often reaching heights of 40 feet. And it might just be coming back next year, too.
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