Maddo gets a podium at X-Fighters

Australian FMX rider Robbie Maddison was on the podium at the first round of the Red Bull X-Fighters championship in Mexico city over the weekend.

Maddo settled for third place after the event was abandoned due to extreme weather. A huge 42,000 strong crowd and all the riders were pounded by torrential rain as lightning lit up the night sky before the organisers called a stop to proceedings.

The winner of the condensed event was Norway’s Andre Villa, the first Norwegian to win an X Fighters competition, while second place went to American rider and reigning World Tour Champion Nate Adams.

With Robbie Maddison in third place, Dany Torres of Spain took out fourth place, which was doubly impressive considering the Spaniard was landing his jumps with only one hand; he had a fractured wrist.

After his surprise win, the 27-year-old Norway-born Villa said: “I have trained hard my whole life and made so many sacrifices for this.”

Nate Adams from the USA seemed outwardly happy with the result, and was pleased the organisers eventually called off the event.

“Andre deserved to win here,” said Adams. “When it comes to open-air sport, you have to live with the weather conditions. The heavy rain meant the landing hill was very slippery. I think the decision to abandon the competition was the right one.”

As the competitors tried to make the most of the their runs despite the tricky conditions at the Plaza de Toros Monumental in Mexico City, Norway’s Andre Villa will head into the next round in Egypt as the leader.

The Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour will be held in front of the Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, on May 14, where you can be sure Maddo will be keen to have a full run to show off his bag of tricks.