Andre Villa X Games Interview

Eric Johnson

Monster Energy

Angel Of The Airwaves, Andre Villa, Makes His Mind Up Over A Matter…

These sunny days, for Norwegian-born Speed & Style FMX ace Andre Villa, it’s all about living in the moment and purely focusing on maintaining a sort of “life balance”. In fact, during the next two weeks, for Villa, this will mean keeping both his body and mind in check for the wants and needs which will be required of the veteran rider if he is to excel at the forthcoming Summer X Games.

Being the consummate professional he is, Villa takes this said “life balance” approach/philosophy quite seriously. And he speaks from experience. Because if things, as far as body and mind go (not to mention being one of the world’s elite FMX competitors), if all isn’t planned and accounted for, things can go sideways in a big way. For example, a few months back – and a handful of days before the Munich X Games – Andre had just come off a rigorous demo/contest/practice schedule which left his body completely drained. The damage done? A huge come-down with a fatigue-type sickness mere hours before opening ceremonies in Germany.

Flashing back to January, at the beginning of the “Why must I be a man in a suitcase?” 2013 FMX season, Villa had announced that he had just put the finishing touches on a semi-retirement approach to his competition program. Getting to the point in his career where, after so many broken bones and big chances, Villa started to realize that it was time to relieve some of the weight he was feeling on his shoulders – as well as the gear bag carrying. Deciding that he’d been “at it” long enough and had established himself as one of the high-drama sport’s most accomplished and credible athletes, having fun became the new driving force.

And to that end, Villa’s deeply ruminated decision may have very well extended his career span as it brought that aforementioned variable of “fun” back into the mix. And speaking of having fun, Andre Villa is quite anxious to get back inside the Staples Centre for the ’13 LA X Games.

Having some extra time here in the natural born home of FMX in California to train and focus, Andre now has winning on his mind. He’s been putting in some serious laps on the Speed & Style tracks as well as working with a coach to maximize every bit of speed he can wring out of both himself and his 50-horsepower “fly me courageous” motocross bike. A week before opening night of the Summer X Games, Transmoto’s man in the US, Eric Johnson, hooked-up with the ultra-friendly and charming stunt pilot.

EJ: Andre, last time we talked, you had just announced a semi-retirement approach to competition. How has it all been going for you?
AV: It’s been good you know? It’s been good choosing a different route than most of the other riders, you know, like Nate Adams, who is riding and training all the time. I now choose to do more events and more demos, which also means a lot of travelling. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff in Europe as well as Mexico. I have also been doing the X Pilots. In June I had like 10 event days. After all this, what I’ve found out is that you can take too much work on. It was getting to be too much. Now, it’s different, but everything is working fine. After I made that announcement of retiring a lot of weight came off my shoulders and I really started having fun riding again. I haven’t attempted to practice much freestyle, but I’ve been riding a lot of demos. I have even started doing some Cliff-hanger Flips again. I’m having fun riding again and I feel it is going very easy for me.

Speaking of taking the weight off your shoulders, how has announcing your semi-retirement and getting rid of some of that weight helped you with X Games?
Well to be honest with you, for me, if I would focus 100% just on X Games I would be doing the same things as what the competition guys are doing. I mean, they are practising all the time. That’s how you make progress and get better. What I’m trying to do now is get a week or two before X Games where I don’t do anything so I feel refreshed when it is game time. And now before LA X Games I have more time because I said “no more!” to demos. Before Munich I had way to much stuff going on and when I got there I just crashed. I ended up getting sick and didn’t ride. So now it’s a new program I have. I keep track of my body and see what it can and can’t take.

What has the X Games pressure been like for you since you have taken the semi-retirement stance?
Well, as far as the pressure, back in the day, maybe you got caught up in it all because you were doing it for the wrong reasons. In hindsight, maybe you were doing it for yourself, but maybe you were doing it for other people, too. You get caught up in that. Sponsors, demos, commitments. It can all get very tough. After my semi-retirement announcement, though, I’m doing it for me. I am not saying that not winning doesn’t mean that much to me because it does; I’m a very competitive person and always have been! But it’s not the end of the day if I don’t do great. If I walk away from there, I’m healthy and I know I did my best, then I am happy. That’s the only thing I ask of myself – to do my best. I’m in a good place now and I like it!

What are your expectations for LA X Games?
Well, I feel pretty good on the bike now. It’s been good. Man, even just these ten days of being in California have been good for me. I think I’ve been making great progress. I’m staying at one place more than just a few days where I can focus on eating, sleeping and training good. I’ve been getting some help from Sean Hamblin (former world-class motocross racer) and he’s been helping me out with my Speed & Style riding. I feel like I’m getting ahead right now and when I feel like that I know I have a chance of winning. I don’t see any reason why I cannot believe I have a chance to win. So I guess I’m going for the win here in LA!

So maintaining that perfect balance mentally and physically is the name of the game for you right now, eh?
Yeah for sure. I came to California this whole July to get more quiet around me so I can focus and be ready, and I think that’s best. Sometimes I wish I could do this before every event. I’m ready to go!