But his preparation for the event in Abu Dhabi (UAE) has been seriously hampered by a broken ankle. As the Frenchman tells us, where there’s a will, there’s a way…
Your preparation for Abu Dhabi was far from perfect. What happened?
Matthias Dandois: There was no preparation whatsoever! I broke my ankle on the 7th of September, so nearly two months ago. The doctor said I could ride again from the 7th of December. First I thought the World Championships were not an option but after three weeks in the cast, my physio Azedine Bousnana told me I could start moving the ankle a bit. After 6 weeks I was able to walk and I started to ride my bike again; that was two weeks ago. My ankle is now strong enough to ride properly and even though the preparation wasn’t the same, I’m happy I can ride.
You’ve had a similar problem before?
MD: Yes, I had an infection in the same foot a week before the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup in Montpellier. They couldn’t find the right antibiotics at first but they finally found them and I was able to walk just before qualification – so I rode the qualification on pretty much one foot and it was super painful. I qualified for the final but I was really tired and mentally drained. I didn’t really do well but at least I qualified for the final and I was happy to perform in front of the crowd in Montpellier after the Covid period.
Who helped with the recovery?
MD: It took a lot of crazy efforts and amazing people to get to where I am now. When I broke my ankle I asked my sponsor Red Bull to get me in touch with their doctor in France who told me to call this sport orthopedist in Paris. I got surgery the next day which normally doesn’t happen. I let my foot rest for three weeks because it was painful but as soon as the pain kind of disappeared I got on the program of my physio, who also takes care of a lot of soccer players and MMA fighters, and he told me that it wasn’t a good idea to have my foot in a cast for 6 weeks, and that I should start moving it slowly.
In parallel, my coach Jordan Joseph kept training the rest of my body right after the surgery, and I also worked with Steve Compagnon at the PøleRecup Cryo therapy / wellness centre in Paris where they have all the crazy machines to recover faster. I also had help from a nutritionist from Red Bull, Stephen Smith, who told me what to eat so the bones could heal quicker. So I had a team of 5 or 6 people helping me to recover faster.
It would normally take 3 months to recover from this… I’m two months in and this morning I was riding and I also rode yesterday. I won one month compared to a normal recovery period.
During the time off your bike, do you still think of new tricks?
MD: I wasn’t really thinking about riding in those 6 weeks off the bike because it’s really painful to think about it when you can’t do it. I was really trying to focus on 2 projects with my production company and with my girlfriend being pregnant, it was nice to spend some time with her and in Paris. I started thinking about tricks two weeks ago. Now I’m doing some really basic tricks because my ankle is still pretty weak.
Time off your bike is always precious because if you can’t do what you love doing for such a long time it feels so good to be back doing what you love. You don’t really know how much you love something until you can’t do it.
The Japanese riders scored a top 4 at the 2022 UCI Flatland World Cup in Montpellier. What makes them so good?
MD: First of all, with the Japanese system of BMX Flatland school in place, we saw some ‘super kids’ as we call them, coming up 5 years ago. Like Yu Katagiri, who was already good at 12 years old. They worked so hard the past 5 years. Riders like Yu Shoji, Yu Katagiri, Kio Hakawa, these guys are frightening! They’re on another level of riding. It’s really hard to cope with that.
I think they’re really good because they were well trained in BMX Flatland school and their determination, combined with the Japanese culture of hard work, makes them so good. Kio rides 8 to 10 hours per day. That is absolutely insane. Basically that’s all he does. I ride 2 hours a day so there’s a big difference here. The Japanese are taking over in many sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and in BMX Park they have Rim who is one of the best now. It used to be the Americans and the Australians, but now I think it’s time for the Japanese era.
How does it feel to have a private training facility?
MD: It’s crazy to have my own spot. I grew up having a spot in my parents’ backyard and I really progressed a lot between the age of 16 and 20. I was riding there every day without distraction. I have those vibes back at my countryside house. I have no distractions, I’m fully focused, the spot is really tiny but I like it, it’s my little bubble of creativity. Every time I ride there I come up with something new.
When I ride in Paris there are always people passing by asking questions, which is great. I like it because we are a sport that comes from the street, but it’s always hard to focus and when I’m at my private facility it’s so much more productive. One of the reasons I’ve been able to come back to riding so quickly after my injury is because I can take things step by step at this private spot.
With the 2024 Olympic Games coming to your city, what can be done to promote BMX Freestyle?
MD: Oh man, it’s crazy the amount of opportunities I’m getting right now. Even though Flatland is not a part of the Olympics, Flatland is a part of BMX Freestyle. For the mainstream, it’s really funny but they don’t really make a difference between Park, Street, Flat… Flatland is the easiest way to promote BMX because you don’t need any ramps or anything. Everyone has tried to do a wheelie at one time in their life and Flatland is the wheelie 3.0!
Paris 2024 really wants to put BMX on the main stage because the bike scene in Paris is growing. We have these ecological issues with cars and the bike culture is really put forward. BMX is definitely a massive part of that. With the Park competition happening at La Concorde and Anthony Jeanjean being one of the favourites, it’s going to blow up!
What's in the pipeline?
MD: I’m going to try to make it to the UCI BMX Freestyle World Championships in Abu Dhabi next week and after that, welcoming my son to the world.