The Great Sphinx of Giza and 10,000 fans cast a keen eye over the 12 best FMX athletes on the planet on Friday night. At the second stop of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2010 desert winds, sand and temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius pushed man and machine to the limit, with Adam Jones (USA) emerging victorious in front of one of the world’s most spectacular backdrops.

CAIRO (EGY). Directly in front of the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, the Great Sphinx of Giza built between 2700 and 2600 BC, it was the American Adam Jones who destroyed his 11 opponents’ dreams of victory by progressing all the way to the Final, where he tricked and flipped his way past the winner of the season opener in Mexico City (MEX), the Norwegian Andrè Villa, to win the event.

“This really is a dream come true for me. The conditions in Cairo weren’t easy, but my final run was perfect, and that meant the judges were then on my side,” grinned the 26-year-old.

In front of the 73.5-metre-long and 20-metre-high Great Sphinx of Giza, it was “only” the nerves of the top freestyle motocross riders from Europe, Asia, America and Australia that crumbled away as they sailed 15 metres high and 30 metres in length through the warm night air. All of the members of the international FMX elite were in agreement: “To be able to jump at such a unique location is just incredible.”

After two of the six stops comprising the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour 2010 it is Andrè Villa who continues to lead the overall standings. The next event is scheduled to take place on Moscow’s Red Square (RUS) on 26 June 2010.

Photo credit: Joerg Mitter, Andreas Schaad, Balasz Gardi, Flo Hagena for Global-Newsroom