Flatland BMX took over the square in front of Museum Helmond on Saturday as part of the Urban Matterz weekend. The F(L)ATBMX Battle brought eight invited riders together for a one-on-one knockout contest, with the riders battling their way through the bracket until only one remained.
The concept was simple: eight riders, head-to-head battles and no UCI points or pressure. Just BMX, creativity and a good time.
The reigning Euro champion Anna Mondics just got a well deserved hook up with KHE Bikes, and threw down a a nice “welcome to” part for good measure. All on board the classic Premium Lager!
Jason Forde was in the area on holiday a few weeks ago, and wanted to link up for a morning flat session at one of my new riding spots on Southsea Seafront. Good times at the SOUBA spot with Jay and his lady, Lyndsey who killed it on the filming.
Jon Knight over at Dope Lordz just came through with this great footage from the archives, Madrid Worlds 1999 featuring Alexis Desolneux, Gernot Ibounig, and Phil Dolan, enjoy this one!
It’s very rare these days, to have my inbox with a couple of full parts to watch and publish on the site. And as you all know, I am a big fan of video parts and what I believe they do to help the flatland culture grow, be shared and be seen, motivate others etc.
So I was very stoked to see Dub share, Yu Shoji’s new edit filmed by Jimalog on the IGI channel, that’s a winning combination right there, that made me think of previous filming partnerships like Tom Sevisual with Adam Kun and Matthias Dandois, and more recently the Heresy team edits.
It’s been 9 months since Yu released his “Welcome to Far East” edit, that helped become the 2026 Flatmattersonline Rider of the Year, in my opinion you cannot solely rely on contest wins to take this award, it takes more than that and Yu delivers yet again, all in the same or very similar outfit and at the same riding spot in Chiba Japan, which begs the question… how long did he take to film this part?
Yu Shoji is of course on top of his game, and further develops what we see him perform under the contest limelight.
Standouts:
00:24: Switch foot mega spin turbines one handed half whopper to switch foot steam without touching the tyre into his infamous blindside body varial to right side halfpacker pivot backwards switch foot switch hand fork wheelie and out to pedals, clean!
1:07: This line beginning with Yu’s signature two xft-ed steam turbines that equally takes on a half hiker position, ending with one footed spinning half hiker jump to crackpacker, and wait for the exit! So good!
2:59: The triple downside boomerang ender is stomped!
Everything hits in this edit, the music and editing are so point! I’m sure in December I will be talking about this edit for the year end awards.
Go show Yu and Jimalog some love, thank you for sharing this amazing work!
Danny Nghieu comes through with another solid edit, and I’m here for it! A great mix of flat/street clips, kept this five minute edit interesting for me, and perhaps you at home.
Give this one a watch!
Brant Moore caught up with me at the Fise World Cup in Birmingham, Alabama to talk all things flatland, and judging. Enjoy if you haven’t already watched, and thank you Brant for taking the time and interest to do this!
I’ve been noticing a lot of the Japanese pros, posting about “the blood order” and wondered what it’s about. Whilst I still don’t know 100 percent, I’m pretty sure it’s all about the new breed of Japanese talent coming through their amazing scene, and showcasing that.
I set myself a rule with the site a long time ago, that contest and jam edits can’t make a “Must Watch”, but this pulled me close to the edge, top notch riding and variety of styles makes this jam edit pretty much a “Must Watch”. I’ll sticky this one as deserves to be seen!
Watching this one on repeat, so much good riding. Looks like Yu Katagiri organised it? Not sure, anyone let me know details, get in the comments…
Bart de Jong hit me up with some contest news, if you around the Helmond, Holland area next weekend…
It’s been in the making for a while and it’s time to start spreading the word. On 19 September 2026 the F(L)AT BMX Battle will take place in my hometown Helmond. 8 of the best Flatland riders will go head to head in a Flatland battle in front of Museum Helmond (Kunsthal) that will host a 4-month Street Culture & Graffiti exhibition that FATBMX is a part of. For the opening weekend the doors are open for free making a trip to Helmond a good plan. The Flatland competition will be held on a 10m x 10m platform with fitting music and Block Party vibe as part of the event. Little side activities are planned such as a Footdown challenge for BMX-ers young and old, Old Skool Flatland Jam Circle session and a performance by Kymer. The 8 invited Flatland riders are announced below.
It will be the best Flatland riding that has ever made it to Helmond, Netherlands.
Urban Matterz F(L)AT BMX Battle!
Museum Helmond (Kunsthal Helmond), Netherlands
Saturday 19 September 2026
Confirmed riders: Dez Maarsen (NED), Keegan Moreno Alves (TTO), Jorrit van Drumpt (NED), Juan Niebles (COL), Barre Neirynck (BEL), Sietse van Berkel (NED), Gilles van de Sompel (BEL), Gino Sandino Stuart (NED).
Event photographer: The one and only Aaron Zwaal (NED)
DJ: Seepman (NED)
Judges: Frank Lukas (GER)/Jason Plourde (CAN)/Robert Moeller (GER)