The Flying Frenchman Takes Off and A Champion is Crowned | FPT Geneva Day 5 Recap

The final day of the Freestyle Pro Tour Geneva 2025 was all about the Tow-In Finals, and the stage was set for an explosive showdown between six of the world’s best. The roster featured Balz Müller, Yentel Caers, Steven Van Broeckhoven, Sam Esteve, Lennart Neubauer, and Bodhi Kempen — a stacked lineup that promised big moves and exciting action.

The morning kicked off with a 10:00 skipper’s meeting, confirming the format for the day: three runs per rider, with the best two counting. By 13:00, the riders hit the water for their warm-up session, fine-tuning their timing behind the boat and adjusting to the glassy Lake Geneva conditions. Lennart Neubauer was seen pushing hard on flatwater combos, explaining that he “couldn’t beat Yentel on the wave,” teasing a strategy that relied on his trademark technical precision over explosive amplitude.

At 14:30, the finals began. True to his word after Qualifier 1, Balz Müller joked that if he made the final, he’d “get the fin out”, but once again, he was the only rider competing on a foil. The crowd loved it. In classic Radiculo fashion, Balz went for full entertainment value, crashing a no-handed Burner, then landing a stylish Burner 360 before fully committing to a Kono attempt on his final run.

Bodhi Kempen couldn’t quite replicate his stellar qualifier performance, struggling to find the same consistency in the finals. His best run featured a crashed Pasko, leaving him with a score of only four points as his best.

Steven Van Broeckhoven, on the other hand, looked sharp. The Belgian legend opened with a textbook Pasko,landed perfectly dry before following it up with a one-handed Burner 360, the same combo that secured him a spot in the finals. Despite a slightly lower overall score than in Qualifier 2, Steven’s performance once again underlined his class and experience, finishing the session with a total of 11.5 points.

The battle for the top three was where the real fireworks erupted. All week, Yentel Caers had been the man to beat. No one was going as big or as powerful, and he wasted no time proving why. His opening move was a massive SamAir that scored an 8, only dropping a few points after losing his front-hand grip on the boom during the landing. His second run saw him go for a Sam Esteve-style one-handed Burner 360, but with the board slipping out on landing, the judges gave him a 6.67. Hunting for a big finish, Yentel went all-in on a triple rotation attempt but couldn’t quite bring it around, finishing third overall with 14.67 points — still an incredible showing from the Geneva 2024 Champion.

Lennart Neubauer came out swinging with a different approach. True to his technical reputation, the Greek freestyler went all-in on combos rather than wave-assisted tricks. He opened with a crisp Double Burner on the flat, earning a solid 7. For his second run, Lennart took a page out of Yentel’s playbook, launching into a Double Air Culo off the wave — an ambitious move that he couldn’t quite ride out. But his final run was pure brilliance: a Double Air Funnel into Funnel, taking off and spinning so fast he nearly crashed into the pontoon. The judges rewarded the move with an 8.67, bringing his total to 15.67 points and securing second place overall.

But the day — and the event — belonged to Sam Esteve. The French powerhouse came into the finals with fire in his eyes and something to prove. Opening with a clean Double Air Funnel into Funnel worth 8 points, he followed it up with one of the most explosive moves of the entire competition a massive, super-tweaked one-handed Double Air rotation that sent the crowd into a frenzy. The judges awarded him 8.67 points, giving him 16.67 total after just two runs — enough to secure the win before his third attempt. His final run saw him go for a Triple of his own, but a slightly low takeoff caused a loss of control on landing. It didn’t matter. The job was already done.

As the riders headed to shore for the final time, a huge crowd packed the Tropical Corner to watch the top three riders line up on the podium. The atmosphere was electric — cameras flashing, music blasting, and fans cheering as Sam Esteve was crowned the Freestyle Pro Tour Geneva 2025 Tow-In Champion. The Frenchman raised the trophy high above his head to roaring applause, closing out an unforgettable week of competition in style.

With the Geneva event wrapped, the overall Tow-In title was also decided. Following his win in Düsseldorf earlier this season and a second-place finish here in Geneva, Lennart Neubauer was crowned the 2025 Freestyle Pro Tour Tow-In Champion, securing back-to-back titles. Unfortunately, with Foilstyle once again cancelled due to lack of wind — and Geneva being the only stop on the Foilstyle calendar this year — no Foilstyle title was awarded.

And with that, the curtain falls on Geneva — but the Freestyle Pro Tour 2025 season is far from over. The fleet now heads straight to Naxos, Greece, for the biggest event of the season. Nearly 50 riders from around the world will battle it out in the 2025 Freestyle Pro Tour season finale, kicking off October 17th.

Stay tuned to @freestyleprotour for all updates, info, and behind-the-scenes action as the world’s best freestyle windsurfers gear up for the final showdown of the year.

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FPT Geneva 2025 Final Tow-In Standings :

1. Sam Esteve

2. Lennart Neubauer

3. Yentel Caers

4. Steven van Broeckhoven

5. Bodhi Kempen

6. Balz Müller

7. Tim Gerdes

8. Tigo Kort

9. Leander Halm

10. Nascimo Fournier

11. Foivos Tsoupras

12. Marco Bezler

13. Cosmo Pezetti

14. Salomé Fournier