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BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Riding Hardline 'like playing Mario Kart with mates'
One of the toughest mountain bike races of all takes place in Wales next Wales is a part-downhill, part-freeride race which will be staged in Machynlleth on 26-27 to the organisers, Hardline riders "push their limits to conquer a brutal course with massive jumps, drops and technical challenges".Kaos Seagrave, a London-born professional rider who is based in Wales, has many years of biking experience under his belt but says Hardline Wales "is actually the hardest race I've ever done".Seagrave devotes his time to freeride mountain biking having left racing on the World Cup scene after finding races "too serious".Hardline is the only race the 26-year-old still competes in, and also tests for, as he feels it is the only race that gives the racers the chance to have fun while racing."The good thing about Hardline is you get to race and be competitive. It's like playing Mario Kart with your mates," Seagrave he was born in the UK, Seagrave, along with his professional racing sister Tahnee, grew up near Morzine in France - the gateway to the Portes du Soleil area that mountain bikers flock to in summer, and skiers in the siblings were younger, the family often had athletes staying with them."I was at the races all my life," said Seagrave. "Before I was a racer, my family would always be at the races because my mum would cook for some of the teams."The Seagraves eventually left France for Wales, where they have lived and raced for 10 says he "fell in love with the place" after visiting his sister, who had moved over Morzine there was no opportunity for biking in winter, meaning that – unusually perhaps - the Welsh weather was appealing."We wanted to always just ride bikes and you can't with winter out there [in France]," Seagrave said."Here you can ride 12 months of the year. It's just so beautiful."The Seagraves are not alone, with Wales' landscape attracting many elite racing families in recent times."The riding is insane, the amount of hills and wherever you go there's kind of a track there," Seagrave added. 'No spiders or snakes - but I don't like crashing in Wales' The Hardline competitions have only two races, one in Wales and one in to the rough landscape in the Dyfi Valley, the Welsh Hardline is widely regarded as the hardest track in the world."It's just the actual steepness of the hill and the Dyfi Valley," Seagrave explained."And then there is the weather as it's normally wet, so it's normally going to be a wet race, and roots and rocks in the wet are quite sketchy."I think for Hardline, it's got to be the hardest line that there is."If you crash in Tasmania, I know there are animals like spiders and snakes, but normally if you crash on the side, you're not too bad."If you crash in Wales it's just kind of rocky, slatey and it's such hard-packed dirt. I don't really like crashing in Wales."Nevertheless, Seagrave enjoys testing the track in Wales, willing to be the guinea pig - the first to ride the track before a race starts and before any other athlete. With each course getting new jumps and features every year, they need to be tested for safety but also to make sure the obstacles are actually rideable."It's a cool experience but it's always quite scary because obviously you're doing a jump for the first time," he describes testing as a "different gamble" due to the risk involved when trying out the most difficult course on the planet."You're there to do a job but if I don't think I can do something I won't," Seagrave said."I've had a few crashes so sometimes it's better to say change it before it's ridden. But you do want to at least try." However, there has been no testing for Hardline this year as the course has no new Seagrave says there are nerves involved when he is preparing to try a new trick."I'm absolutely in my head just like, 'Oh my God, what if I just go off the side?'" he said."As I get to the top and get on my bike, that's when I'm like, yeah, I'm okay. When I'm going to drop in, those thoughts just go to the side and only thoughts of me landing and doing it are in my head."Seagrave grew up with admiration for Hardline creators Dan and Gee Atherton, themselves professional racers."We always try to get Dan to come back out on the Hardline course but he's always like, 'Oh I'm old now I can't ride it'," Seagrave said."I went to the bike park with him on Sunday, he was dropping us and riding so well. He'd beat most of us - but he says it's up to us to ride it now."After all the crashes Gee has had, seeing him ride is just amazing. They are unique athletes."Seagrave missed out on competing in both editions of Hardline last year after a shoulder injury, but is raring to go again this says the primary target is to "go out there and have fun" as he prepares for a year of freeriding events such as Crankworx and Swatch Nines and also handing in an application for a wildcard spot for Red Bull Rampage.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Mountain bikers bid to conquer 'deepest, darkest Wales'
Gee Atherton attributes Wales' landscape as the most "impressive and intimidating" for building the Worlds hardest downhill racing track.A former World mountain bike downhill champion, Atherton is co-founder of Hardline – widely regarded as the hardest mountain bike race in the Hardline returns to the Dyfi Valley in mid Wales for its eleventh year on 26 JulyThe event see's the top female and male riders from around the world battle it out over two days to become the Hardline year Irish World Cup racer Ronan Dunne took the win and will be looking to defend his victory again this with his brother Dan, Gee Atherton designs and builds the track each year and also participates in the race, which he won in 2018 after a few unlucky years of mechanical faults on the track, had prevented him from finishing the race. "Every year I would be there and I would be close and either mechanicals or crashes or injuries," Gee Atherton said."I realised I was almost pushing too hard and I wanted this win too much and I almost had to kind of step back and calm myself down and think about it slightly differently."I managed to get my head around it and managed to take a win but it's not an easy event to win by any means, there's very few people that have won it multiple times."The event is often regarded as the hardest course in the World with only the top athletes invited to take part each event has one competition in Dinas Mawddwy, in Wales and one in Tasmania, with the Welsh clash known to be more challenging than its counterpart race."I mean, we've been all around the world riding and training and racing and looking for venues for these kind of events," Atherton added."And, you know, we've never found anywhere as impressive as intimidating as where it is here in Wales."I think it's that unique kind of feel you can only get from when you're in, you know, deepest, darkest Wales."Everything from the climate, the venue, the mountain, you know, everything is terrifying. So it's the best spot in the world for it." A competition so extreme, it must be difficult to test its safety?Mountain biking at this scale, built to test the very top of the worlds talent can only be tested by the riders themselves, as the only people with the skillset to complete the may be the only sport in the world that the guinea pigs are its own professionals right in the heart of a World Cup World Cup brothers, Dan and Gee will build and test the course before inviting other riders to test before the competition gets underway."It's difficult really, Dan and I, we've got this kind of agreement between us and we know how each other works and I'll suggest something and he'll say no that's too far, or that's a great idea," Atherton said."Often he will build something and I will have to test it so there's a lot of trust there between the two of us." I think we work well together, sometimes I'll have to test something that he's built and I'll have to trust that it's going to work 75% of the time it does and occasionally it doesn't."You're building the hardest track in the world, you're guinea pigging some of the biggest features anyone's ever hit on a bike, so it's very difficult to then decide yes this is okay or no we've gone too far you know we have to push the sport."We have to challenge the riders we have to be at that kind of that pinnacle that's forefront of what you can do on a mountain bike so each year the riders turn up and there's a new feature that's bigger and more difficult than the previous years."If you go too far with that, you know, if you push them too far, then the riders can risk getting injured, which, you know, does happen sometimes in testing. But at the same time, you know, you have to be ambitious. You have to push the sport along. And that's where that balance comes in. And you have to walk that very fine line."The three Atherton siblings are arguably mountain biking's most impressive family,From their own bike brand to a bike park as well as Gee, Dan and sister Rachel's vast World Cup winning records. The three have been in Wales since 2004, with Dyfi Bike Park established in 2010, creating a destination for mountain bikers from all of the world to test their skills."The talent that's developing, that's coming out of this area is incredible, riders onto the World Cup scene with quite impressive results," Gee Atherton said."We've been here a long time, we've developed a Bike Park here in Machynlleth which has helped put the area on the map."It's turning into one of the UK's biggest bike parks and getting busier and busier and it's just this huge mountain of the most unique, intimidating daunting, but incredible fun to ride trails."There's very few places you can find this kind of landscape and this kind of terrain that suits mountain biking so well."
SBS Australia
19-06-2025
- Sport
- SBS Australia
Newsflash: June 20th - Pidcock's staggering speed, Afghan Hopes, and the World Tour Powers at play
This week in your newsflash, Tom Pidcock showcased his fearless descending skills in a stunning stunt in Germany, reaching speeds of 95 km/h solo and an incredible 115 km/h when tethered to a motorbike, further cementing his reputation as one of cycling's most daring downhill riders. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's women's national road cycling championships will return for the first time since 2022, though held in France due to the Taliban's ban on women's sports, offering refugee athletes a powerful symbol of hope and resilience. In the broader cycling world, the UCI has rejected the Saudi-backed One Cycling project's bid to reshape the WorldTour calendar, citing governance issues. However, the project's supporters remain determined to press on, potentially setting the stage for a major shake-up in the sport's future.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Monster Energy Athletes Claim Podium Spots at 2025 UCI Downhill and Enduro Mountain Bike World Cup in Bielsko-Biala, Poland
Australian Team Rider Jack Moir Takes 2nd Place in the Elite Men's Enduro Race at Season Opener 29-Year-Old Amaury Pierron from Brioude, France, Claimed 3rd Place in the Elite Men Downhill Race BIELSKO-BIALA, Poland, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting the season on a high note! Monster Energy congratulates its mountain bike team riders on taking podium spots in the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup and UCI Enduro World Cup races in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, this weekend. In the Elite Men Enduro race on Saturday, 31-year-old Jack Moir from Morisset Park, Australia, claimed second place. The Elite Men Downhill race on Sunday concluded with 29-year-old Amaury Pierron from Brioude, France, claiming third place in a tight race. He was followed by 24-year-old French team rider Thibaut Daprela, who just missed the podium in fifth place. The Elite Women division race concluded with 35-year-old Camille Balanche from Le Locle, Switzerland, in fourth place. From May 16-18, the legendary trails of Bielsko-Biala welcomed the world elite of mountain bike racing to the hills of Southern Poland. The event marked the first race of the 2025 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup season as well as race two of the 2025 UCI Enduro World Cup, following the first round in Pietra Ligure, Italy. Race week in Poland was overshadowed by changing weather conditions that rendered the track slippery and muddy. Right before the finals, overnight rain and light snow added to the challenge. The podium run started on Saturday in the Elite Men Enduro final. When the dust settled, Jack Moir claimed second place with a final time 23:32.631. Moir showed his grit and climbed into third place in the second stage. In the fourth stage, Moir took the top spot on the DH+ trail with a time of 3:23.138. Moir also came out on top in the final stage and ended his race 6.040 behind the winner in second place. In Sunday's Elite Men Downhill race Amaury Pierron battled heavy competition and slippery track conditions to claim third place with a finish time of 3:05.675. Pierron held down the top spot after putting down a flawless run. When all was said and done, he finished 0.808 seconds behind the winner in a very close race. "I am very happy to boost back and finish on the podium," said Pierron. "I was fighting a small illness all week long and then didn't have the best qualifier after falling twice in Q1. I really can't complain after regrouping, making it through Q2, and putting together the best run I could. The conditions were crazy today, too! We saw snow, then rain - it was a river running down the track. Very happy to have survived that and take third to open the season! Bring on France!" In the Elite Women division final on Sunday, 35-year-old Camille Balanche from Le Locle, Switzerland, just missed the podium and took fourth place. Undeterred by the tough course conditions, Balanche finished the track with a 3:39.835 overall time. Stay tuned when the 2025 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup continues in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France, from May 30 to June 1. For more on Jack Moir, Amaury Pierron, Camille Balanche, Thibaut Daprela, and our team of mountain bike athletes, visit Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok for updates from the 2025 mountain bike season. For interview or photo requests, contact Kim Dresser. About Monster Energy Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes, and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, bands, believers, and fans. See more about Monster Energy including all of its drinks at CONTACT: Kim Dresser C: (949) 300-5546 E: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Monster Energy Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Teen mountain biker from Bristol selected for world championships
A 16-year-old mountain biker is getting ready to hit the world stage when he represents Great Britain at the World Downhill Championships in Lewis, from Long Ashton, Bristol, is flying out to Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland this week in preparation for the teenager was just 12 years old when he tried mountain biking for the first time on the winding trails at Ashton said: "It's my first World Cup. I would love to win a World Cup and make a career out of it but I'm just going to have fun." The season opener of the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup takes place in the Beskid Mountains between 16 and 18 said he was feeling a "bit nervous" but was "looking forward to it"."World Cup tracks are not like your local trails, they're pretty full-on and gnarly - very scary - with big drops and big gap jumps," he said."It's just the quickest riders in the world who come to race in the World Cup." 'Fell in love' The teenager said he first "fell in love" with the gravity-fuelled sport when he got his first mountain despite competing for only four years he has been picked to represent Great Britain."Last season, I had a decent season - just being consistent, building up and putting in some fast race runs - and here I am." 'Broken both arms' Hitting speeds of up to 50mph (80kmph) in some of the men's races, while negotiating tree roots, banks, bumps and jumps, Max said he has had "quite a few" injuries."That's part of the risk of the sport. It's so much fun but it comes with big risks," he said."I've broken both my arms at once - went straight into the back of a jump."But, he said, he has been "very lucky" to have access to some of the "amazing trails" near Bristol."I do a lot of training around Leigh Woods, Belmont Hill," he said.
