Fresh off an emotional and hard-earned victory at the Supercross de Paris, newly crowned Prince of Paris Anthony Bourdon sat down with Kevin Frelaud to reflect on a weekend that meant far more than a trophy. After a brutal injury earlier in the year and months of uncertainty, the French rider delivered a standout performance in front of his home crowd, sealing a milestone he’d been chasing for three seasons. In this interview, Bourdon discusses the decision to race SX2 in Paris, his fierce battles with Luke Clout, the road back from injury, and what the future may hold as he weighs his options on both sides of the Atlantic.
Anthony, congratulations on winning the Prince of Paris title. Last year, you tied with Tom Vialle. This time, it’s yours. Winning in Paris, in front of your home crowd, must be incredible. Considering what happened to you at the start of the year, does it feel like a nice form of revenge?
Bourdon: Yeah, that’s exactly it, like you said. I went through some really difficult months at the start of the year, in February in the US. Everyone knows I had a big injury. I couldn’t have asked for a better reward than standing on the top step of the podium here in Paris. I’ve been chasing the Prince of Paris title for three years, so it’s cool to finally get it this weekend.
I’ll get the obvious one out of the way first. People are going to wonder why you decided to drop down to SX2 for Paris when you’re a SX1 rider in the SX Tour now.
Bourdon: It’s true that now I’m a 450cc rider in the SX Tour. But honestly, it’s simple: we chose to ride in 250cc because there was an opportunity to get on the podium and even fight for the win. In 450cc, let’s not kid ourselves, that would’ve been difficult. Battling for the top spots with the Lawrence brothers, Webb, Malcolm and all those guys – very few can do that. The goal was to put the Honda on the top step in the 250cc class. Mission accomplished, and that’s why I decided to ride the 250cc in Paris.
You fought hard with Luke Clout all weekend. I think not many people know him here in France. Did you expect him to have that level in Paris?
Bourdon: Yeah, it’s true that not many people here really know Luke Clout. But he’s one of the best Australians at home, over there in their national championships. Those championships have a pretty good level, and Luke is one of the top riders. He runs up front, he’s beaten Cédric – if I’m not mistaken – several times recently. He’s won in Australia, so he’s not just anyone. It’s just that we don’t hear a lot about him.
Last weekend he was in Germany and – I think – it was another podium both days. So he’s definitely no slouch. I battled with him all weekend. It was a great fight. We could see we were a bit above the rest, and it was cool to have a rider like him here in Paris so we could go bar-to-bar.
Before the final moto you had a pretty big margin over Luke Clout, but as we saw, anything can happen. What was your mindset going into the last one? Playing it safe and counting points, or giving everything and seeing what happens?
Bourdon: I went into the last moto to give everything, to go after the win. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a great start – I must’ve been sixth or seventh in the first few corners. I pushed hard to come back, and I think by mid-race I was already up to second. From there, I attacked to close the gap and got right onto Luke’s rear wheel, but I ran out of time to make a move. I knew I’d be Prince of Paris even with second place. I showed I had the speed and that I deserved the win; that’s pretty cool. Luke is a very good rider, but he’s a bit wild and makes quite a few mistakes. I figured he’d eventually make one at some point this weekend. He got tangled up at the start – it’s unfortunate for him, but that’s racing, and I took advantage of it.
A word on the whoops in Paris. They’ve kind of become the event’s signature. They were massive again this year, especially early in the weekend. In SX2 they were really the main separator.
Bourdon: Totally. They were really big again. Every year the whoops in Paris are massive. You can really make a difference there, whether in 450cc or 250cc. I think I was pretty comfortable in them all weekend – you could see it – and that helped me make the difference.
You mentioned the big injury at the start of the year. Do you still feel anything from it today?
Bourdon: Today, I’m almost like new. I still feel it a bit from time to time. I still have hardware in my pelvis: a plate and screws. Actually, I had a little issue this summer – I hit my pelvis pretty hard. After some X-rays, we saw one of the screws had broken. That explained the discomfort I felt around August. I struggled with it for about a month. I took a short break, and then it settled down. Now I’m almost 100%, I don’t really feel any big limitations when I ride. It’s just that sometimes it aches after big training days.
The medical staff advised me to leave the hardware in, but I can take it out if I want. Both my surgeon in the US and the doctors who followed me in France advised keeping the plates and screws. For now, I’m leaving them. We’ll see down the road.
BarX announced their team for 2026, and people noticed you’re not on the roster. In 2024 you were their best SX250 rider. In 2025, same again before your injury. That injury was from a mechanical issue in training, if I remember correctly. There must be a bit of confusion about why it’s not continuing for 2026. Was it your choice or theirs?
Bourdon: Like you said, the injury was caused by a mechanical failure so it wasn’t really my fault. And as you also said, I’ve been with them for two years and brought the team their best results both years. So yeah, it bothers me a bit not to continue with them, because it’s pretty much certain we won’t carry on together. Even though I spoke with the boss again last week – they say they’re looking for budget to try to keep me, but well, they’ve already announced their riders, so I’m not counting on it too much. But I’m still in contact with the team; nothing is 100% done.
Otherwise, I’ve had a few talks elsewhere, but nothing extraordinary. Honestly, if I go back to the US, it has to be under good conditions. I don’t want to go back halfway, struggle, take risks, and not make enough money – or worse, end up spending money just to ride. I don’t want a return to the USA to cost me money at this point in my career. I think I’ve proven myself over there, and I deserve to return without having to pay out of my pocket.
And what about a “pick-and-choose” programme? We see Soubeyras going to Australia, Aranda in Brazil. We know why riders go – it’s about earning a living. Do you consider that kind of programme?
Bourdon: Yeah, of course. Right now, though, I’m really 200% focused on Supercross. I only do that all year. We can see that some championships are developing, like in Brazil for example. I also race Supercross in India, which is growing nicely. I also do World Supercross, so I’m a bit all over the place. We still manage to find races. My schedule is full until Christmas – every weekend! It’s cool to be able to ride all these championships.
So does that mean you’re putting Motocross aside for good?
Bourdon: My goal is to go back to the US as long as I still can, because I know it won’t be possible for another ten years. That’s why I really want to focus on Supercross. And afterwards? We’ll see later. Why not come back to Motocross at some point? Maybe try some sand racing too, like Le Touquet. I’d really love to do that, but not right now.
You’re with Honda SR Motoblouz for the SX Tour and this end of season. Is it confirmed that this will continue next year for a French programme in 2026, or not?
Bourdon: For now, it’s only until the end of the year. We’ve talked a bit about next year, but nothing is done. At the moment, I have no idea what I’ll do next season. I’m really focused on the upcoming races to finish the season. We didn’t have many SX Tour rounds this summer, and unfortunately, in the only two we had, I messed up a bit. That’s how it is. So I’m putting everything into this end of the season. We started the winter races well with a nice Supercross de Paris. Next up is Lyon next weekend. I hope to have a good SX Tour finale there to make up for the two missed rounds this summer.
We did a feature with SX Tour riders about what changes they’d like to see. A lot of them talked about getting young riders excited again. JLFO did just that with the 85cc and 125cc classes. The juniors got to ride in Paris. Now they have a great reason to get into Supercross, and it could open doors for them later, right?
Bourdon: Absolutely. Honestly, hats off to them for everything they’ve put in place for the young riders – it’s great. If they didn’t do that, the next generation wouldn’t be there. It was tough – we could see there weren’t many youngsters coming through. Now we see young kids on 125s opening the throttle. I’m thinking of Yannis Lopez, and even little Tim Lopes, who unfortunately got injured. What he did on Saturday was incredible.
It’s great to bring back the 85cc and 125cc classes. The only downside for us is that I feel like we’ve been a bit sidelined. They had a lot of races, and we’ll only have three rounds in the SX Tour this season. It’s a bit annoying for us, for our sponsors, and everything that comes with that. But yeah, I hope we’ll get more rounds in the French SX Tour in the years to come.
