Finn Flügel and Claudia León deliver strong start to 2026 Freestyle season

The Duotone Team opened the season in strong form, with reigning World Champion Finn Flügel (GER) taking victory and Claudia León (ESP) securing second place. Fellow Duotone riders Martyna Konkel (POL) and local wildcard Aleksa Sanchez (MEX) added to the strong team result with third- and fourth-place finishes in the women’s division.

In GKA Freestyle competition, riders have seven trick attempts per heat, with the top four scoring tricks counting toward the final score. Each of those counting tricks must come from a different trick family.

Strong start to Flügel’s title defence

From the very beginning of the event, Flügel looked in control. In the opening rounds, the German posted the second-highest heat score of the entire event with 30.90 points, combining technical difficulty with clean execution in demanding conditions. An 8.23 and 7.63 trick combination helped separate him from the rest of the field and immediately established him as the rider to beat in Mexico.

Flügel carried that momentum into the semi-finals, landing an 8.40-point KGB5 and a 7.47-point Heart Attack 5 to edge past Arthur Guillebert (FRA) and secure his place in the final.

Awaiting Flügel in the final were Arthur Guillebert, Maxime Chabloz (SUI) and Leo Verrecchia (AUS), setting the stage for a tightly contested showdown in challenging conditions.

While Guillebert landed the single highest-scoring trick of the entire event - a massive 9.00-point HFS7 - Flügel once again showed why he is the reigning World Champion. Stomping four huge scoring tricks, including an 8.33-point KGB7 and an 8.27-point HA5, the German finished with 32.37 points - the highest heat total of the entire event - to secure victory at the opening stop of the 2026 season and make a strong statement in the World Title race from the outset.

León returns to the podium

On the women’s side, Claudia León (ESP) continued the momentum from her 2025 vice world title finish with a second-place result in Mexico after battling through choppy and technical conditions in the final against Bruna Kajiya (BRA), Martyna Konkel (POL) and local wildcard Aleksa Sanchez (MEX).

Competing on her new Vegas 11m and Team Series Freestyle 140, León put together a strong final heat with a 7.40-point HA and a 6.87-point SLIM, helping her secure second place behind Kajiya, whose 8.73-point KGB became the highest-scoring women’s trick of the event.

Joining León in the final were fellow Duotone riders Konkel and Sanchez, giving Duotone three riders in the women’s final. Riding in front of a home crowd, Sanchez secured fourth place, while Polish Konkel finished the event in third.

With Flügel taking victory in the men’s division and León returning to the podium, the Duotone team leaves Mexico with a strong start to the 2026 Freestyle season before the tour heads to Borkum, Germany, for stop number two of the season.