Frenchman clinches Pretoria title in Red Bull FMX

Tour favourite Tom Pages from France beat close contender Clinton Moore form Australia to clinch the Pretoria title of the Red Bull FMX.

xbullRS1 Adam Jones. Photo: Ron Sibiya

South Africa Red Bull X Fighters Motocross favourite Thomas Pages emerged as the winner of the 405th stop of the tour to beat Clinton Moore in a tightly contested competition at the Union Buildings on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Frenchman gave his competitors a run for their money at the final showdown as he pulled stunt after stunt, unmatched in the history of the competition. The 2015 winner of the competition Josh Sheehan said Pages deserved to win. “He is an innovator. I did what I could but I just could not beat Tom,” said the Australian. Even before the final showdown between Pages and Clinton, Sheehan said Pages had the edge to clinch it because he had unique tricks, unmatched by anyone.

It was the battle of the season between Pages and Moore, said Red Bull TV commentators. “We are not taking anything away from all the other contenders but these two not only deserved to be in the final showdown but they put in the most work. They both kept it clean and solid,” they said.

Pages could not get any better in the final showdown as he pulled a surprise 360 flip when he was least expected. As soon as he knew that the battle was his to lose after his ride, he went off into part of the strong crowd that were part of the spectators. “The crowd was just amazing. When I saw my name on many placards I realised I had to do this for them,” he said.

Third placed Taka Higoshimo said he was up against worthy opponents. “I wanted to win this so badly but it was too tough. Tom and Clinton were better than me. I will have to work a lot harder if I am to beat these two,” he said.

From South Africa the tour heads to Abu Dhabi Pages and Moore will face each other again as well as other freestylers from across the world in final tour showdown.

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