This weekend French Riviera held Monaco F1 , Cannes film festival, and most importantly, round 1 of France Nationals. While the racing portion certainly had its share of news (come back later for more), freestyle spectators were in for a big surprise. Legendary French freerider, multiple freeride champion of the world, Pierre Maixent, came prepared to compete in freestyle for the first time in his career! He brought a top-of-the-line freestyle machine and practiced every day before Sunday's competition.

On Sunday, after six amateur and two pro riders, it was time for Pierre to show his flat water skills. He came out big, with 5 clean backflips. This was followed by barrel rolls, 360s into back flips and more. This was a top-level freestyle routine and it was clear to everyone Maixent is serious about freestyle. At the end of his routine he was clearly in the lead.

However, following his routine were two more experienced freestylers, XJETSKI.com sponsored Aleksandar Petrovic, and French multi-champion, Romain Stampers, who both bested Pierre, giving him an excellent 3rd place on the podium at his first ever freestyle outing.

Freeride fans need not to worry, Pierre is not quitting freeride, just merely adding another skill to his impressive arsenal. He can be seen shredding wave as early as next weekend at the freeride competition in France.