MOSCOW (RUS). After falling heavily during pre-season training for the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2010, Mat Rebeaud, who dominated the World Tour in 2008, was forced to watch the first two stops of the year from his couch at home. “That was really tough,” explains the 27-year-old. “After a crash like that all you want to do is get back on the bike straight away and give everything for the sport.” The third stop of the season on Moscow’s Red Square will see Rebeaud finally return to the biggest international freestyle motocross tour on the planet to resume battle with the best FMX riders in the world.

Supporting the Swiss FMX star in the heat of the Russian capital will be a man who is more used to standing on snow than dirt. Yuri Podladchikov is widely recognised as one of the absolute stars of the international snowboard scene and, since switching federations in July 2007, now competes for Switzerland. The 21-year-old Zurich-native made his debut at the Russian Snowboard Championships at the tender age of 14 and competes on the TTR World Tour, where he finished second overall in 2010 against the crème-de-la-crème of the world snowboard elite. The Zurich Sportsman of the Year 2009 also came third at the prestigious Burton European Open in the Swiss resort of Laax.

With temperatures pushing 32 degrees Celsius, Podladchikov probably won’t be needing his snowboard on the famous square in the heart of Moscow’s old town. However, the former Olympian still can’t wait for the first ever Red Bull X-Fighters event on Russian soil to begin in front of 55,000 fans on Saturday night, as he hopes for a successful comeback for his fellow countryman Mat Rebeaud.