Chris Tedesco

Cameron Sinclair, 27, isn’t keeping his X Games Best Trick plans a secret. In 2010, the Aussie used a double backflip to win gold in his first X Games appearance, and he hopes to up the ante in 2011.

“My plan is to do a one-handed double backflip on the first jump to see what that score will be,” Sinclair says, “and if it’s not enough for gold, I’ll do a no-handed double backflip or possibly a one-handed to Nac-Nac double flip.” (Riders get two jumps in Best Trick.) A double-backflip variation never has been landed before.

While Travis Pastrana was the first to land a double backflip, earning X Games Best Trick gold with it in 2006, Sinclair’s name seems to be most synonymous with the difficult stunt these days. He landed the first double backflip in a freestyle comp (Red Bull X-Fighters Texas, June 2009) and has attempted the trick 53 times total to dirt or resi, crashing on only four (as of June 21, 2011). It’s fitting, then, that Sinclair and Pastrana threw and landed simultaneous double backflips at the Nitro Circus Live show on June 4 in Las Vegas.

Chris Tedesco

The double backflip may be the most dangerous trick in freestyle. In July 2009 at the Red Bull X-Fighters in Madrid, Sinclair under-rotated, suffering a horrific crash which put him in a coma with life-threatening injuries that included a lacerated liver, internal bleeding, brain bleeding and bruising, a broken left shoulder, a fractured cheekbone and damaged wind pipe.

Doctors agreed then they would be happy if Sinclair walked again, never mind ride a bike. They underestimated Sinclair’s determination. A year later, the bullheaded Aussie was doing more than riding his bike — he was netting Best Trick gold, an incredible comeback.

Sinclair still suffers the effects of his near-fatal Madrid crash. “I have problems, but I’ve gotten used to them,” he says. “Everyone else notices the difference, like my speech is still slow and my balance isn’t 100 percent yet. I just try to ride my bike all the time and practice.”

Outside of freestyle motocross, 2011 was a big year for Sincs: He married Brooke Abegg on Jan. 7 in Melbourne, Australia. “She travels with me to all the events,” Cameron says of his new wife. “I have her in my contract, just in case I crash. Every since I started doing the double backflip, I’ve wanted her to be there with me.”