
As well as the new qualifying format, the second stop of the year is also set to showcase a brand new trick-for-trick competition format. In the Semi-Finals and Final riders will go head-to-head in a classic battle of FMX one-upmanship. The lower-ranked rider goes first and performs a trick, with his opponent then having to "answer" this trick within ten seconds. A total of eight tricks in the Semi-Final and ten tricks in the Final will be performed in this format to decide the event winner.As the clock ticks down to the start of the first ever Red Bull X-Fighters stop on Egyptian soil, the best FMX riders in the world have been indulging in some unconventional training to beat the heat in the desert outside Africa’s most populous city and get their tricks dialled in before the main event. The Olympic-sized swimming pool in the official riders’ hotel just outside the Cairo has been a popular meeting point over the last few days. However, when members of the international freestyle motocross elite meet in the water, you can be pretty sure that there will be more than a few relaxed lengths of the pool on offer. Frontflips, backflips and pretty much every kind of insane trick you can imagine have been going down at the deep end over the last few days as the riders aim to get used to the new trick-for-trick format scheduled to make its debut in Egypt this weekend. "It’s a great way to prepare. In fact, diving into the water is pretty similar to jumping the bike into the foam pit," comments Japanese rider Daice Suzuki ahead of the showdown on Friday night.