The Spanish capital's event and the world's top riders return to Vistalegre
The X-Trial Madrid, scheduled for Saturday, December 21st, at 6:00 PM (local time), will kick off the 2025 World Championship season, marking the return of this spectacular discipline and its finest athletes to a venue that has already witnessed historic nights of this sport—like the 2003 event where Adam Raga was crowned World Champion for the first time. The venue is none other than the Palacio Vistalegre, one of Madrid’s most iconic multi-purpose sports arenas. At Vistalegre, eight of the world’s best riders, led by 18-time World Champion Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Trial Team), will compete for the season’s first victory, debuting a new competition format designed to deliver even more excitement and spectacle to the sport.
The updated rules expand the number of finalists to four, thereby increasing the contenders vying for the podium and the victory. Three finalists will emerge from the first round of zones (Q1), while the fourth will secure their spot by triumphing in the second round (Q2), which all riders—except the three already qualified—will contest. Additionally, the starting order for the Final’s sections will be determined by a Superpole showdown among the four finalists before the ultimate battle for victory begins. Both Q2 and the Superpole will use a Sprint scoring format, where time penalties are added to the riders’ total completion time.
Bou’s main challengers in this season opener are expected to be the two riders who battled for the runner-up spot until the final event of last season: Jaime Busto (GasGas) and Gabriel Marcelli (Repsol Honda Trial Team). Close attention will also be on Sherco riders: Benoit Bincaz, aiming to continue his streak of consecutive podiums by adding a third to the two he secured at the last events of 2024, and Adam Raga, who will look to bid farewell to Madrid fans with a fight for the podium. Miquel Gelabert, steadily improving with his Vertigo, also seeks to join the podium contenders.
The Top 8 is rounded out by Jack Peace and Sondre Haga, two young, rising stars striving to further establish themselves among the elite of the X-Trial World Championship at Vistalegre.
Get your tickets at https://xtrialmadrid.com or watch live and on-demand at www.x-trial.tv.
