Tom is looking for the border with BMX stunts: ‘Risk is charm of the sport’

The European Championship in Area 51 Eindhoven is a home game for Van den Bogaard. He is in the hall almost every day to cycle or teach.

The Brabander could not have imagined that he would earn his money with his passion fifteen years ago. He then bought his first BMX bicycle after he followed the example of a classmate. “I really enjoyed it and wanted to do it as often as possible. When I got home from school, the first thing I did was grabbing my bike. But that there was a career in the sport for me, never occurred in me.”

The hard cycling on the track was not his thing, because Van den Bogaard would rather go out to get stunts out. That started pretty carefully, but it became more and more spectacular. For example, in 2021 he became the first in the world with one 360 Quadruple Downside TailWhip on the BMX. In addition, he revolves around his axis, while his bike goes around the other side four times.

“I had already tried it in 2019, but then it just didn’t work. In 2021 I went for it again after a new sponsorship deal. Because of Corona we had built a ramp in our backyard in Aarle-Rixtel, with, for example, the start at an altitude of 8 meters. The dream of a child who came out.”

The spectacular jump succeeded, but certainly not at once. He even fell very loud a few times and, despite the fact that he had a helmet on consciousness, as always. “Although I am not a regular customer at the hospital. In all those years I have sustained a fracture three times. 99 out of 100 times it goes well.”

As a athlete he has never been learned. He is always looking for new tricks and perfection in the version. Eventually he wants to show in the runs that last a minute as much as possible in the Indoor Park with obstacles. But he is also regularly asked to give a show somewhere in the world. “There is always a risk to it, that is the charm of the sport. We are looking for the border, but with my many years of experience I know what is about. In the end everything we do is well thought out.”

During the European Championship in the coming days, he wants to show the best version of himself during qualifying and possibly the final. “My goal is to implement the route I devised with tricks as well as possible. It is then up to the jury to judge that. If someone else is better, then I wish him that. In this world we are all friends. We know how much work is in it and how many risks we are taking, then I think it is really cool to see others perform well.”