How Vanstippen turned motorcross mastery into X Games dominance

Belgium rules motocross. The most accomplished and successful racing nation in the sport’s history, Belgium holds 56 FIM Motocross world championships across all classifications. Furthermore, 15 Belgian racers have earned at least one FIM Gold Medal. In fact, Stefan Everts has 10 of his own!

The nation of 11,800,000 is also the home of X Games Moto X Best Whip sensation Julien Vanstippen, who has found himself up on X Games podium in all five of his Best Whip appearances. A two-time Moto X Best Whip gold medalist, Vanstippen got his start in all things Moto X as a young motocross racer. With the 2026 MoonPay X Games New Orleans set for July 24-26, 2026 inside the Caesars Superdome, Vanstippen reflected on his trajectory through motocross and how it all has made him an X Games legend.

“Before there was any moto, I was playing soccer,” says the 30-year-old Vanstippen, age 30. “My brother was playing too. I didn’t really like it, so my dad asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I want to go ride motorbikes. We didn’t know much about it.

"Then we went to Namur and the MXGP in Belgium in 2003. That’s when I said, ‘Okay, I want to start riding moto.’ We started not knowing anything. I started on a PW80 and my dad didn’t know how to work on the bike and didn’t know where to go. At first we went to a small track by my place. It was a little track in a forest with a couple of jumps. We just started just for fun, you know? For a couple of years I was riding there every day. I had never been to a different track.

“We started from there and it was crazy. I learned how to ride in the mud, as well, because in Belgium it rains a lot. Then time goes by and I was getting better and better. We were just stoked to ride. We didn’t even think about doing some races or anything.

"At one point, people were telling us to go try and race, you know? I was, maybe, nine or 10 years old and so I went to my first race just randomly. I got third in the 65cc class. I was super-small. We started racing more and more. I started to be really fast when I was riding the 85. I was doing the Belgian Championship and the Joel Robert Trophy. It was 25 races and I won the championship. I was super stoked. I met him and he gave me the trophy and stuff. It meant a lot to me.”

As Vanstippen continued to improve, he began to take his racing more seriously.

“It started to get serious when I was racing the 85,” said Vanstippen. “I won the Belgian Championship and went straight from the 85 to the 250F. At that time my dad went bankrupt, so it was really tough with the money. Going to the 125 class, if you want to be good, you need to spend money on the bikes and stuff. So we just switched from 85 to 250. From there I was racing in the Belgian Championship in the best class. I was racing with all the best guys. I was racing the GP guys, too. I was racing Jeffrey Herlings, Antonio Cairoli, Kevin Strijbos and Ken de Dycker.

“When I was 15 years old, I raced in the 250 class. The first year was real fast, so I was kind of struggling. When I turned 16, that was my best year. I was really fast. Then I did EMX250. Like I said before, I was struggling with money, so I had a completely stock bike. When you race EMX250, everybody has got a tuned bike. I was always starting last because of the bike, and making my way up from the back of the field.

"When I was 18 years old I switched to MX1 and I was riding the 350 against the 450s. Then when I turned 20, I was racing the French Championship, obviously trying to get to MXGP. I kept racing one more year, and at the same time, I started doing a lot of Freestyle BMX.

"I loved the spirits of the Freestyle, you know? In Freestyle, when you do new tricks, people are stoked for you. It’s not like motocross when you win a race, people are not stoked for you. They’re pissed and jealous. I didn’t really like that part of motocross and I see myself better I the Freestyle world. Then I said to myself, ‘Okay, maybe I'll stop motocross to do BMX.’ I was doing a lot of BMX and stuff.

"From there, I went into the Freestyle Motocross. I started jumping the ramp and then some small gaps. Then I started doing a couple of tricks and then even more tricks. It was 2016 and I was just doing Freestyle Motocross. Then I started doing some shows. I started traveling the world a lot and started doing some shows here and there in France and Spain. I went to Mumbai, I went to Saudi Arabia. I went everywhere. That’s what I wanted to do.

"Racing had this stress and I didn’t like it. Freestyle, you have the stress, for sure, because you don’t want to crash, but it’s stress with yourself because you want to do good for the sponsor and stuff. I loved being a part of the big shows. I was riding Freestyle Motocross for three years. I even did the backflip. That was one of my highlights. From being in these big shows, I wanted to go deeper in the tricks and learn more.

“Then I ended up getting an invite to go to X Games in Japan for Best Whip. That was 2022. Right before that, I signed with Monster Energy. I was so stoked. It was a childhood dream. I needed that to get more known in the industry. In the first X Games, I got a Bronze medal straightaway in Moto X Best Whip. I was really good at Whip, but I never imagined myself winning anything in Best Whip. Then when I switched from the two-stroke motorcycle to the four-stoke, my whip just got better. From there, in 2022 they asked me to come to the U.S. for Best Whip at Axell Hodges’ place Slayground. I went there and I won the Gold medal there on the 120 jump.”

All along the way, Vanstippen continued to gain more and more momentum as the world’s elite Moto X Best Whip motocross athlete.

“I just kept going and doing more and more shows. I did the Paris Supercross. I came back the year after and I did the show at Anaheim 2. I came to Ventura and won a Silver medal in Best Whip. I also did Best Trick there and did a double flip and go fifth. I won in Salt Lake City and then I won again this year. It’s just crazy from this little guy from this small village in Belgium to my third Gold medal at X Games… It’s crazy.”

While the sport of Freestyle Motocross and it’s offshoot Moto X Best Whip have evolved in recent years, Vanstippen firmly believes that the sound of motocross engines at and above each and every X Games stop keeps the fans transfixed.

“I think people love whips because it has been there forever, you know?," he says. "If you look at Crusty Demons back at the end of 1990s, they were already doing some whips. Motocross and supercross people love the whips. It’s not like some crazy new tricks that people don’t really look at because it’s all too much.

"And the whips, everybody loves them, you know? It’s crazy because a lot of people can do it and do it in different ways, and now the level got crazy. It doesn’t even look like a whip anymore. It looks a whip to a flip you know? A lot of people look at whips and they love it. You can see the reaction of the crowd and the different athletes from different sports, they just love it. It’s not big tricks, but to get a Gold, it’s really technical and you have to be precise in what you do. It’s really tough to be on the top level now.”