ESPN.com have a great gallery up of FMX riders, sans all the protective gear. As ESPN puts it: "With all the padding, neck braces and various armor needed to ride FMX, it's easy to forget what your favorite riders look like. Here's a reminder."
The pictures are loads of fun, and you really get a sense of the guys' personalities.
I remember us having the same problem at SI with cricket players, who wear face-obscuring helmets when they bat. It's not easy putting a guy on your cover when TV viewers don't know exactly what the guy looks like. (One solution, which it seems SI tried after I left, is to put Hitler on the cover. Can't say I agree with that strategy...)
SA Cricket have the same problem, which they compound by Photoshopping their cover shots into sweet oblivion.
But Sports Illustrated in the US have the same problem – and they use a lot of action photos (i.e. not shot in a studio) on their covers, so it's a huge problem when it comes to NFL stars.
F1 Racing also have to find a workaround, with drivers always wearing helmets when they're in action. Part of a sports magazine's job, then, is to make athletes recognisable enough that they can be used on a cover and help to sell the magazine.
Or not.
