Matthias Dandois

Matthias Dandois is a French flatland BMX rider. He is one of the most decorated riders in the history of the discipline, with numerous flatland world titles across the sport's major series and an X Games flatland bronze medal. He is also known for a fluid, original style and for bringing flatland to a mainstream audience through his long association with Red Bull and his media work.

Early life and background

Dandois was born in 1989 in France and grew up in the Paris area. He started riding BMX as a child and was drawn to flatland, a discipline that needs nothing more than a smooth piece of ground. Paris had an active flatland scene in the 2000s, and the city's plazas and underpasses gave him places to ride and riders to learn from.

He progressed quickly and was competing internationally in his teens. By the late 2000s he was already regarded as one of the best young flatland riders in the world, and he turned professional while still young.

Career

Dandois' competitive career spans close to two decades at the top of flatland. The discipline has crowned its world champions through different series over the years, including the BMX Flatland World Circuit and later the UCI's events, and Dandois has won the title under more than one of them. His total world titles is usually counted at nine or more, a record that puts him among the most successful riders in any BMX discipline.

He has also competed at the X Games since flatland returned to the programme in 2022, winning bronze at X Games Japan in 2023. Flatland has come and gone from the X Games over the years.

Beyond contests, Dandois has worked extensively with Red Bull, who have supported him for many years and produced films and projects around his riding. He has also worked in fashion, modelling and film, and he is one of the few flatland riders to have a public profile outside the BMX world. He has used that profile to argue for flatland's place in the sport and to introduce it to new audiences.

He has continued to compete and win into his thirties, remaining a contender at every major flatland event he enters.

Riding style

Dandois rides with an emphasis on flow. Flatland routines are built from balance positions, rolling tricks and transitions between them, and the best riders are judged on how smoothly they link one element to the next as much as on difficulty. Dandois is known for routines that look continuous and unhurried, with no visible setups between tricks.

His trick selection mixes rolling front-wheel and back-wheel tricks, spinning transitions and his own variations that other riders have adopted. He is comfortable in both directions and has a wide range of combinations, which lets him build routines that stay varied for the full length of a contest run. He is also known for pulling his runs cleanly under pressure.

Where some flatland riders focus on raw difficulty, Dandois pairs difficulty with presentation. His style has been described as elegant, and it translates well on video, which is one reason he has reached audiences that most flatland riders do not.

Video parts and notable moments

Flatland is a discipline where video and contest results both matter. Key points in Dandois' career include:

• Winning flatland world titles across multiple series over a period of well over a decade.
• An X Games flatland bronze medal in 2023, after the discipline returned to the event.
• Long-running support from Red Bull, including films and media projects built around his riding.
• Work in fashion, modelling and film that brought flatland into mainstream media.
• A series of video projects filmed in Paris and around the world that showcase his style.

Legacy and influence

Dandois is the most prominent flatland rider of the modern era. For many people, he is the first flatland rider they have seen, and his routines have introduced the discipline to viewers who had only encountered BMX through ramps and dirt.

Within flatland, his record of world titles and his longevity set a standard for consistency. Riders who came up after him have adopted his emphasis on linking tricks into continuous routines and on presenting flatland as an artistic as well as a technical pursuit.

He has also been an advocate for the discipline. Flatland is the smallest of the main BMX disciplines and has often been left out of major contests. Dandois' profile, and his willingness to push for flatland's inclusion at events like the X Games and FISE, has helped keep it visible.

Related

• Flatland
• X Games
• FISE
• UCI BMX World Championships
• Decade
• Footjam tailwhip
• Toothpick