Spain remain unbeaten in the FIM X-Trial of Nations. This season Toni Bou (Repsol Honda Trial Team) claimed a record-equalling ninth gold, while his teammate Jaime Busto (GasGas) secured his fourth, his third alongside Bou. Completing the podium were hosts France and a lively Italy.
Spain took control of the night in typical fashion, Bou’s single-mark score in Section Two giving them a dominant lead in Round One, then a perfect Round two sending them to the Final as top seeds, where they needed just one more mark to complete a near-perfect night and win by a 10-mark margin.
The fight for the podium places, though, was incredibly close-fought right from the start; only one mark separated the bottom four in a low-scoring opening Round. Unfancied Norway with Sondre Haga (GasGas) and debutant Jarand-Matias Vold Gundvaldsen (TRRS) impressed in their first run with three cleans and a seven-mark score, but they fell by the wayside after a scrappy second Round sprint. Great Britain fared well in Round Two with third, but their duo of Jack Peace (Sherco) Harry Hemingway (Beta) had left themselves with too much work to do, with two dropped marks in the opening section of the night ultimately proving costly for them.
Italy, with Matteo Grattarola (Beta) and newcomer Francesco Titli (TRRS), were second in Round One and held on for a place in the Grand Final, where they met hosts France, who survived the tricky first run and ultimately made it comfortably through. For them Benoit Bincaz on his debut for Electric Motion and Hugo Dufrese (Beta) slipped into third place after Section One but recovered second after a failure for Italy’s Francesco Titli in Section Two. Titli nonetheless walks away with his first medal, Italy’s third bronze, while for France it is a fifth silver in the last six editions, a fourth for Bincaz and a first for debutant Dufrese.
SPAIN (1st): Toni Bou: “It has been a truly incredible night, both because of the result and the way we got it. With a teammate like Jaime it was difficult to imagine things could go badly. The format added extra pressure, but we have done really well.”
Jaime Busto: “As Toni has said, a trial like this one is all about managing pressure, because there are more factors to manage, but with him as a teammate it is all straightforward.”
FRANCE (2nd): Benoit Bincaz: “We are very happy with second place. The target was to make the podium so to finish second is a great result. It was my first X-Trial with Electric Motion and that made it tougher but it went well.”
Hugo Dufrese: “It was my first time at the X-Trial of Nations and in Nice and I think we have done well. Second place is a good reward. I would like to thank Benoit for his work.”
ITALY (3rd): Matteo Grattarola: “We were very close to second place and only one small mistake cost us. But I think we rode well and I am pleased that Francesco has made his elite debut and that we were able to do a good job.”
Francesco Titli: “I am pleased to have made my X-Trial debut on the podium. It has been a great night with a lot of challenges because of my inexperience but on balance it has been positive.”
The 2025 X-Trial World Championship season closes with X-Trial Tallinn in eight days’ time on 26th April.