Tortelli, Alessis headline Paris Bercy.

Home hero Sebastien Tortelli returns to France to take on American stars Mike and Jeff Alessi - plus a whole host of other up-and-coming off-road heroes - during the upcoming Paris Bercy Supercross, to be held from November 11-13.

The 23rd edition of the event, the most famous European Supercross race - which last year attracted 45,000 spectators - will once again feature the 'new' SX2 format (125cc two-strokes and 250cc four-strokes machines only), plus a bigger than ever freestyle show.

But the biggest draw for the French fans this year will sure be Tortelli, who will be making his Bercy return after an absence of five-years.

Sebastien, who recently signed to ride for KTM in the 2006 MX1 World Championship, has plenty of Supercross experience from recent seasons spent in the AMA championships - and was a frontrunner with his new brand at the recent Motocross of Nations.

Runner-up behind David Vuillemin in 2000, Tortelli will be the French 'captain' this year, when he will lead GP riders Pascal Leuret, Christophe and S?bastien Pourcel, plus French born AMA competitors Steve Boniface, St?phane Roncada and Eric Sorby.

However, the local heroes will - as always - face stiff opposition from a star studded American team that includes AMA winners Andrew Short, Mike Alessi and Mike Brown and Billy Laninovich. Add to that quartet the likes of Jeff Alessi, Jason Lawrence, Sean Hamblin and Ryan Mills and the Americans could well spoil the French show by claiming the teams title for the third time in a row.

Underdogs behind the French and American teams will be the 'rest of the world', although they can still boast 2005 MX2 GP winner David Philippaerts (of Italy), while the likes of Akira Narita (JPN), Julien Bill (SWI), Carl Nunn (GBR) and Tyla Rattray (SA) are on the 'to be confirmed' list to ride alongside him.

But the Supercross superstar won't just be on track at Bercy with the legendary Ricky Johnson coaching the US team for the first time, while Jean Michel Bayle will again be in attendance - as will reigning nine-times Motocross world champion Stefan Everts, who will coach the 'rest of the world' team.

Aside from the racing, the freestyle competition will see American Ronny Renner, Spaniard Edgar Torronteras, French Manu Troux, Swiss Matt Rebeaud, Norwegian Andr? Villa and Japanese Eigo Sato doing battle, and back flips.